The Master of Shadows
by The Revenge of the Mask
Summary: Naruto seals away his most dangerous enemy, but at an enourmous price. Now, 700 years later, he and the Kyuubi must help a new hero to defeat their old enemy, once again. But, to do this, Naruto and his new ally must travel to distant lands and new worlds
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Alright everyone, this is the first chapter of my first story so please don't flame me too much. The first chapter may be short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. The viewpoint is third person subjective...I think. Correct me if I'm wrong.

**Story-Wide Disclaimer:** Alright, here we go. I don't own Naruto, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Hunger Games, The Legend of Zelda, and everything else that isn't original. Got it? You better have! I'm not making any money, so LAY OFF!

This story was inspired by Stephan King's Dark Tower series and by the 1990's TV show Sliders.

For the sake of the story, all the characters look like real-life people and not animated characters.

Update:10/03/10: I've changed the first chapter a whole ton, so even if you've already read it you should go and read it again. Most of it should be completly new so don't worry too much about getting bored.

* * *

**Arc One: Chikyuu**

The Master of Shadows was not happy.

But of course, who would be happy after being sealed away for a little over seven hundred years right after escaping another seal that lasted for one thousand years. Luckily though, the seal used on him was the Unwound Clock Seal, which trapped him between the folds of time, resulting in his body not aging a minute. In fact, from his point of view, he had just been sealed away about an hour ago. It wasn't until he had met up with Captain Sickle, the commander of Taskforce Omega, that he had learned that he had been sealed for seven hundred years.

Now the Master of Shadows was walking towards the heart of the Temple of Shadows, his base of operations and the only surviving relic of his ancient village, called the Village Hidden in the Shadows. Interestingly enough, the military base had once been a church for his people's now extinct religion, called Christianity. According to the Gregorian Calendar, it was now the year 2758 AD. Of course, only the Master of Shadows used that dating system anymore, even though he had long since revoked his membership with the Christian Church, the only group to use this dating system, to join the other two Masters on their search for the sacred Artifacts.

When he arrived at the temple's center, he stood in a vast, ornate chamber with a very high ceiling. In the center of the chamber, there were six pillars exactly 1 yard high and 1 foot in width. The array of pillars was called the Alter. On four of the pillars lay four of the previously mentioned Artifacts. A harp, called the Artifact of Time, a rod, called the Artifact of Seasons, a heart shaped mask with multiple spikes on it, called the Artifact of Power, and a wand made of elder wood, called the Artifact of Magic. Beyond the pillars there was a rectangular pool of water about twenty feet in length.

As he approached the pool of water, he made a few hand signs and stated "Shadow Style: Dark Water Mirror Jutsu". Almost immediately after he was finished, some of the water turned jet-black and rose out of the pool, forming a flat surface.

'One Dark Mirror! What the hell!' he thought, extremely surprised as the mirror finished forming. There should have been two mirrors, one for the Master of Souls and the other for the Master of Time and Space. Suddenly, the face of a middle-aged man was staring down at him through the single mirror.

"State your name and your assigned phrase!" they both bellowed at the same time.

"Master of Shadows. There's no time like the present."

"Master of Souls. I don't have dreams. How can I say it? I myself am a dream."

"Modest much?" The Shadow Master spoke with probably the largest hint of humor that had ever echoed in the walls of the temple. Almost nonexistent.

The Soul Master shook his head and began to wonder why he chose the Shadow Master as a partner. He was going to say something cruel back, but eventually settled for the probably the nicest thing he had ever said. "I'm going to kill you if you don't shut up soon." he stated, emotionless.

"Where's our friend the Happy Mask Salesman?" he said, ignoring his partner's statement.

"Dead. Killed by the Guardian of his designated universe."

"Any sign of hostile action directed towards us?" the Shadow Master said in a neutral voice that his wide-eyed facial expression would have betrayed if he had not been wearing his army's standard issue porcelain white masks. They were made so that if you pulled the hood of the standard uniform, a midnight black robe, up it would clip onto the hood; leaving a soldier's entire face concealed. As for the thing about designated universes, each of the Three Masters had been assigned a universe containing one of the six Artifacts. And, finally, Guardians were a species of Angelics, the third most powerful level a living being could exist as. However, while they were very powerful and had no set life span, they could still be killed. But they were not what had the Master of Shadows worried. No, what frightened him was that if the Guardians had taken action, it was only a matter of time before God could take action without breaking the Original Law and interfere in the lesser realities.

"None yet," the Master of Souls answered. "but we should make our actions in universes other than the ones we were born in limited. Luckily for you, your designated universe is also your home universe, making your movements a whole lot easier to make than mine. Also, is it me, or did your voice change."

"My body and my shadow were merged together by the blond bastard about a week prior to the usage of the Unwound Clock Seal. In order to gain return to full power back , I had to perform an Ultimate Shadow Possession on a human. I also chose one of the blond bastard's friends as my host to terrorize him. Come to think of it, I never did show that dumb blond which of his friends I took as my host." the Shadow Master replied.

"Ah. When will you begin your search for your artifact again?" the Soul Master said, already losing interest in the previous topic.

"Immediately"

"Which of your soldiers will you be using this time?" the Soul Master spoke while smiling an insanely inhuman smile.

"The one I sent to the Happy Mask Salesman's designated universe to aid Vaati."

"Ah, Dark Link. Good choice." the Soul Master spoke happily as he watched the shadowy tunic-clad boy walk into view.


	2. Chapter 2: The Necklace

"Snore"

"Snore"

"Sn…Aghhhh!"

Kamaboko immediately bolted upright, knocking his mischievous younger brother, Hisao into the wall. "What the hell are you doing?" exclaimed a furious Kamaboko.

"Mom told me to wake you up and forgot to tell me how, again." he replied with his normal goofy grin plastered across his face. Hisao was a regularly sized eight year old boy with an attitude in great contrast with his jet-black hair and stormy gray eyes.

"Next time you do that, I'll break out my wooden katana on you." Kamaboko roared.

Hisao rolled his eyes and left the room, leaving Kamaboko to perform the calming techniques his sensei at the Ryota Village Katana Academy had taught him. When he finished, he got up and looked at himself in the mirror. He had spiky dark blond hair, lightly tanned skin, and azure-blue eyes. He smiled at the thought of his eyes. His parents always said that it was strange that he had blue eyes. He was told that none of his ancestors on both sides of his family had had blue eyes. So, in a way, he liked to think of them in a way that made it seem as though anything was possible.

"Honey!" his mother called "You'd better hurry up and eat breakfast, Harumi will be here at any minute now."

Kamaboko immediately rushed downstairs, not wanting to miss his favorite meal of the day. Of course, every meal of the day was his favorite meal, but who really cared when it came to food.

'Mmmmm. I think I smell Mom's special Spiced Rice Balls cooking.' he thought as he burst into the kitchen.

"Congratulations!" his entire family screamed at once, causing a very surprised Kamaboko to trip and fall face first into the ground.

"For what?" he asked as he got up off the ground

His eight year old sister, and Hisao's twin, Katsumi, let out a gasp and briefly explained. "It's you're twelfth birthday you idiot!" she said as she flipped some of her long, dark blonde hair off of her face.

"Kamaboko's face immediately light up with joy. "That's right! I'm finally old enough to receive our family's treasured heirloom, the Shadow Necklace!" The Shadow Necklace had been passed down through the many generations of his Father's side of the family for ages. According to their family's legend, one of their ancestors had been a great explorer, and had found the necklace inside the Temple of Shadows, a sacred place on the other side of the continent, and the last existing building of the ancient Village Hidden in the Shadows. Theorists from Satoshi Village, or Know-It-All Village as Hisao liked to call it, had guessed that it had been destroyed about one thousand and seven hundred years ago.

"I, Hideo Tanaka." Kamaboko's father began. "Hereby recognize you as the heir to our family's land, possessions, and the Shadow Necklace. Do you accept?" he said as he pulled off the necklace.

"Well duh!" was Kamaboko's highly thought out response.

His father chuckled. " I'll take that as a yes." he said as he handed the Shadow Necklace to Kamaboko, which he happily accepted.

Kamaboko stared in awe at the beautiful necklace. The leather chain was not much to look at, but the crystal orb at the end of it was one of the most beautiful in the world. It had two colors, one an azure-blue the same color as his eyes, and the other a blood-red. Both swirled around each other in a spiral pattern until finally meeting in the orb's center.

"You know you're supposed to wear it, right? A feminine voice called from the doorway, causing Kamaboko to whirl around and see the cute, red-haired girl that had been his best friend throughout his entire childhood.

"Harumi!" he cried out in joy.

"You do know that we have two minutes to get to the academy, right?" she spoke in the matter-of-factly tone she used often.

Kamaboko's eyes widened. "Crap! You're right! Lets get going!" he yelled as he slipped the necklace over his head and began racing towards the academy.

* * *

A dark and ominous figure looked onward towards the small village. 'It's a shame that this village is so beautiful.' the figure thought solemnly. 'There will probably be nothing left standing after I've found the Artifact.' he thought as he pulled his ghostly replica of the Four Sword out of its sheath.


	3. Chapter 3: The Katana Tournament

"All right class, today is a very special day. Does anyone know why?" Iwao-Sensei asked his students. One of the students raised her hand, but immediately put it down when their sensei groaned.

"No Harumi, it's not free ramen day."

"Sometimes, I think you're the one who should've been given my name." Kamaboko whispered quietly to his longtime friend.

Harumi rolled her eyes and whispered back, "Whatever you say, Fish Boy." Now it was Kamaboko's turn to roll his eyes at her nickname for him. Honestly though, what were his parents thinking, naming him after a seafood ramen topping. 'I bet nobody else in the history of the universe has ever been named after a ramen topping.

Suddenly, he heard a mischievous chuckle coming from somewhere, but when he looked around for the source of the laugh, it was nowhere to be found.

"Must be imagining things." he mumbled softly to himself.

"Alright class, since nobody seems to know, I'll go right ahead and explain it to you. Ok, first off we have Kamaboko's birthday, happy birthday and best wishes to you, and secondly we have the 700th anniversary of the Day of Destruction. Does everyone know what that is?" When nobody spoke up he continued. "The Day of Destruction was the day the Five Great Ninja Villages and their home nations fell. Now, according to legend there was a great evil that had wanted to rule the world, but was stopped by a hero who wielded a great katana of immense power. It is said that the hero defeated the dark one by using the katana's power to lock him away eternally in a realm where light could never reach, a place where shadows were the only thing present. But, as a result of such a great release of power, he accidentally released a shockwave that both killed him and devastated our continent.

"Believe it or not, the ruins right outside Ryota Village are the remains of a Great Ninja Village known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Anyways, the founders of our village found the great katana, unscratched, and brought it to the land that would one day become Ryota Village. Now every year, as dictated by the founders of our village, we are required to host a tournament amongst all of the Academy students in their final year here at Ryota Academy. The winner is allowed to hold the great katana of power, and if it chooses you as a wielder, you are to become the owner of the great katana, and be destined to become a great hero."

"How many wielders has it chosen?" Kamaboko wondered with great interest.

"None. In fact most don't believe in the legend anymore, and only keep the tournament running to honor our founders." Iwao Sensei replied.

"How do we sign up for the tournament?" Harumi eagerly asked Iwao-Sensei

"It's quite easy actually. You just have to sign your name on this sheet in the front of the room, and you will automatically be entered in the tournament. Not that you are allowed refuse participation, of course" their sensei responded.

"I'm definitely going to enter this tournament. It'll be a great way to show everyone how much I have improved." Kamaboko announced loud enough for the class six doors down to hear.

"I'm with Fish Boy. This could be fun!" Harumi agreed, her voice dripping with excitement.

Soon enough, the entire class had signed up for the tournament. Not long afterwards, The school's headmaster had lined up the first two combatants. "Let the match begin!" he roared over the screaming crowd of younger students.

* * *

**5 hours and plenty of ass kicking later…**

"Alright, time for the final match!" the headmaster yelled. "Kamaboko vs. Harumi!"

"You're so going down, Fish Boy." Harumi taunted playfully.

"Whatever." Kamaboko shot back.

Kamaboko barely had time to react when Harumi suddenly launched a flurry of jabs and swipes using her wooden katana, but Kamaboko was able to parry them all away and launch his own assault.

_'Damn it!' _He thought, forehead creasing into a frown as he jumped over a low swipe she aimed at him._ 'She was distracting me and waiting for the right moment to strike. All right Kamaboko, calm down, you need a strategy. Let's see here, Harumi knows that my technique is more refined than hers, and that her stamina is way higher than mine. That means that she's probably going to attempt to wear me down to make defeating me whole lot easier. I'll have to finish this quickly before I lose all of my strength!'_

Kamaboko began to search for an opening, but soon gave up. _'Argh! My technique may be better, but I still can't find an opening._

At that moment, however, he felt a sudden rush of energy, and when he parried Harumi's next strike, he sent her wooden katana flying into a metal post about 20 feet away. Iwao announced that Kamaboko was the winner, and the crowd of students erupted into applause.

"Good job, Fish Boy, and congrats on winning to tournament! You were amazing!" she spoke admirably, making Kamaboko blush.

"Thanks!" he replied

"Congratulations Kamaboko!" an elderly voice exclaimed.

Kamaboko whirled around and smiled broadly. Standing in front of him was an old man holding a long curved case. "You're Ryota Village's leader, Asimaru Yukashi." Kamaboko thought aloud.

Asimaru nodded and smiled in a kind, grandfatherly way. "Indeed young one." he spoke in a slow, but solid, voice. "Are you ready for your reward?"

"Yes sir." Kamaboko spoke eagerly. Asimaru smiled again and opened the case's lid. Kamaboko gasped as he looked upon the most beautiful katana he had ever seen. The hilt was the color of a gold purer and finer than any he had ever seen, and encrusted with yellow gems. But the most beautiful part of the katana, was the blade. It reflected light in a way that made it glow softly in the sun, giving it a mystical quality.

"Take it Kamaboko, and don't be disappointed if it doesn't accept you. Keep in mind that many before you have held this katana, but only the legendary hero has been accepted by it."

"Yes sir." Kamaboko replied, already reaching eagerly for the katana. When he had it grasped in his hands, he began to wait. When nothing happened he was extremely disappointed. Asimaru gave him a sympathetic smile and said, "Don't dwell on it too much, it didn't even accept me."

Kamaboko was about to set down the katana, when he heard a powerful, almost godly, voice speak into his mind.

**Feel lucky that I am even speaking to you, for you are the first human to hear my voice in 700 years. Answer this question truthfully for me. If someone had kidnapped a person precious to you, what would you do?**

Kamaboko thought for a second and then replied _'I would do everything in my power to rescue them.'_

For a minute there was an uneasy silence, and then, for what seemed like an eternity later, the voice spoke back to him.

**You have answered truthfully human, and for that, everything in your power just got a whole lot bigger.**

Suddenly Kamaboko felt a huge surge of power flow through his body as tendrils of white energy suddenly burst out of the katana and swirled around him. Then, the white energy suddenly retreated back into the katana, and Kamaboko felt the sudden burst of power fade away. Then, the voice spoke again, not into his head, but for all to hear.

"**I, the Katana of Light, accept Kamaboko Tanaka as my new wielder."**

* * *

Deep within the Necklace of Shadows, two souls felt the seal that kept them within the necklace break. One was an electric blond-haired human, and the other a fox with red fur and way too many tails. " Finally!" the human exclaimed, a large, toothy smile appearing on his face. Then, the two souls left the necklace and entered the body of Kamaboko Tanaka.


	4. Chapter 4: Dark Link

Dark Link suddenly felt a large surge of power. Although it only lasted a few seconds, he became worried. A worry that immediately became reality when the Master of Shadows spoke into Dark Link's mind.

'**Change of plans.'** the Shadow Master began, **'The Katana of Light has chosen a new wielder. I want him captured and brought back to the Temple of Shadows. If this proves to be too difficult, you know what to do.'**

'_Aye, Master.'_ Dark Link thought back before he began to make his way to the location from which the surge originated.

* * *

The crowd of students and teachers stared at Kamaboko with looks of awe on their faces. Harumi looked dumbstruck with astonishment. Asimaru Yukashi began to shed tears of joy; and his younger brother, Hisao, could've been in the middle of a war and not looked away from Kamaboko.

And then, without warning, the crowd broke into a thunderous applause.

* * *

Dark Link began to hear a chorus of clapping as he approached the building.

"So much for little or no witnesses." he mumbled softly to himself.

* * *

The joyous applause broke into screams of terror when the first of the explosions blew apart the entire southern side of the academy.

"What the hell's going on!" Kamaboko heard someone scream as dozens of people fled the academy's sparring grounds. Then he looked up and saw it, the thing that would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. It appeared to be a young boy about his age. He wore a night-black tunic and hat, and had hair as white as snow. It's gray skin looked completely unnatural, but it was the being's eyes that terrified him the most.

The being's eyes were crimson red.

The being suddenly lunged at him, slashing at him with an uppercut. Kamaboko tried to parry, but failed and got blown back several feet, slamming into the remains of the academy's southern wall. Kamaboko slowly got to his feet, gasping for air.

"Who… who are you? What do you want?" Kamaboko stammered.

The figure laughed evilly, and said "I am Dark Link, and I want that pretty little katana you've got there. If you will be so kind as to hand it over, I will try to keep casualties to a minimum."

Kamaboko was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll never give this katana away. It chose me, not you."

Dark Link chuckled and said, "Your loss, kid." He lunged at him.

Kamaboko's vision went black.

* * *

Dark Link smirked as he held the unconscious body of the katana's wielder. _'Hard to believe this kid is the chosen one.'_ he thought to himself. He was about to throw the boy onto his shoulder, when the kid's eyes snapped. But there was something off about his eyes. Where before the boy's eyes were filled with fear, his eyes now showed no traces of fear. In fact, his eyes were shining with confidence.

"Ah, Dark Link. I can't say it's a pleasure to see you, again." the boy spoke, with an edge of hatred in his voice. Dark Link suddenly felt something slam into his chest, sending him flying backwards straight through a nearby brick wall. Dark Link tried to get up again, but the boy suddenly appeared next to him and smacked him back down again.

"C'mon Dark Link, I thought you would remember me. It's only been a few hundred years. I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to forget me." the boy continued.

Dark Link's eyes suddenly widened in recognition and fear. "No you can't be here. You were supposed to be dead. You shouldn't be alive." Dark Link rambled fearfully.

The boy rolled his eyes and said "Finally."

Dark Link was about to retreat, but he suddenly remembered something the Shadow Master had told him a long time ago, and a large smirk appeared on his dark grey face. He suddenly threw himself at the boy, and prepared to strike. When he was close enough he slashed at the boys legs. The boy dodged the worst of the blow, but ended up with a shallow, but large, gash across his left leg. The boy cried out in pain, and brought his hands down on the wound.

"It appears my master's theory about your state was correct. It takes you an enormous amount of stamina and willpower to control that body, with little power left over for combat" _'But I'm still not powerful enough to beat him. Looks like it's time to go with the backup plan. But who would…'_

"Brother!" a child's voice called out.

Dark Link turned in the voice's direction and saw a young, jet-black haired boy._ 'Perfect.'_ he thought as an evil smirk spread across his face. Dark Link launched himself at the child, knocked the young child out, and slung him over his shoulder. Then, he quickly used some of his shadow chakra to fly high above the village, and began the long flight northeast. As he flew, he sported a malicious grin. He could only imagine his master's happiness when he saw his new prisoner.

Back on the ground, a certain soul's control of Kamaboko's body began to dwindle.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your brother, Kamaboko." he whispered in a barely audible voice. And then the soul receded back into Kamaboko's mind.

* * *

Kamaboko was confused. One second he was staring into the eyes of a being straight out of a nightmare, and the next he was in a large dojo.

"Hello." he called out. When he received no answer he called out again. Still receiving no answer, he became frustrated. Who had bought him here? Were they a friend or a foe? Kamaboko shook his head in frustration, and made his way to the only door in he could see. When he arrived at the door, he grasped the doorknob, and quickly pulled the door open. When he looked inside, his eyes widened in fear, insides turning to ice.

In the doorway was an enormous fox with nine tails.

Kamaboko stumbled backwards and started to panic, when he heard a voice. He looked away from the fox and saw a teenage boy, probably about sixteen. But the boy's age was not what he was interested in.

The teenage boy looked so much like Kamaboko that they both could pass as twins. The only differences were that the teenage boy's hair was lighter than his and the three whisker marks that were on both of the boy's cheeks.

"You see, Kyuubi? This is exactly why I told you to take the form of a human." the teenage boy said.

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to look like a mortal." the fox, who Kamaboko assumed was named Kyuubi, shot back in a gruff voice.

"Um. Excuse me. Who are you?" Kamaboko interrupted nervously.

Both the teenage boy's and Kyuubi's heads turned in his direction. "Forgive us for our bad manners." Kyuubi said, a bragging tone caught onto his voice as he said his 'title', "I am the almighty Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" the boy exclaimed, grinning.

"Oh, Kami, please don't start saying that stupid catch-phrase again." Kyuubi complained.

"Sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess." Naruto replied apologetically.

"Idiot." Kyuubi mumbled under his breath.

"Um, can I ask another question?" Kamaboko interjected nervously, eyeing Kyuubi's large fangs.

"Sure! What's the question, Kamaboko?" Naruto responded, while giving Kamaboko a toothy grin.

"Um, I have two questions now. The first is where are we? And the second is how do you know my name?"

Naruto scratched his chin for a few seconds, and then answered, "Those are both very easy questions, both of which my friend Kyuubi should answer to avoid confusing you with too many details."

"Moron." Kamaboko heard Kyuubi mumble before moving on to answer Kamaboko's questions. "To answer your first question, we're in your mindscape. Each person has their own mindscape, made to match their personality and/or interests. Your's is probably a dojo because you like some form of the ninja arts and/or swordplay. And to answer your second question…we're in your mind. Figure it out yourself."

"If we're in my mind, how can you be here." Kamaboko questioned.

"I can be here because I am a demon. We can live on a human's mindscapes. As for Naruto, he is a human soul, meaning he was once a living human, but was killed. The only reason his soul didn't pass on is because he used a powerful sealing jutsu that manifested a jinchuuriki's soul and the demon that was sealed inside them in the form of a jewel. This was not what the sealing jutsu was supposed to do, though. It was actually a side effect." Kyuubi answered.

"Wait a second, you and Naruto were my family's heirloom necklace?"

"I guess. Naruto and I have sort of been hibernating since we were first turned into the jewel." Kyuubi replied to Kamaboko.

"Alright. What was that… that thing called Dark Link that attacked me?" Kamaboko demanded.

It was Naruto who answered this time, though in a flat voice that was filled with hatred. "That was a shadow being. Most of them are disgusting and evil creatures, though some can be tolerable and maybe even nice. The evil shadow beings are in service to the most vile excuse for a human on the face of the planet, the Master of Shadows. Before I was imprisoned in my jewel state by the sealing jutsu, I fought him and his army of shadow beings for the better part of 5 months. I lost many of my good friends in that war." Naruto answered remorsefully.

"Why was he after the Katana of Light?"

"He needs it for a ritual of some sort. Even Kyuubi and I don't know the complete answer to that question." Naruto responded.

"Ok, final question. What is my role in all of this?" Kamaboko asked, nervous about what the answer might be.

Naruto took a deep breath and stated "You are the legendary Hero of End, Kamaboko Tanaka. I wish I could say more, but it will have to wait until after you wake up. See you in a few!"

"Yeah, see you." Kamaboko spoke, slightly shocked, before his mindscape, along with Naruto and Kyuubi, faded to black.

Kamaboko woke with a start, and saw his family standing next to him, their eyes puffy and red from crying.

"What happened?" Kamaboko exclaimed

It was his mother who answered, "Kama, they took him. They kidnapped Hisao."

* * *

So, what did you think? Please review!


	5. Chapter 5: Cartographers and Historians

Kamaboko treaded slowly down the dirt path, every step taking him farther and farther away from Ryota Village. He felt the waves of sadness flow back as he thought of the events of the previous hour

_**Flashback**_

_Kamaboko and Harumi stood solemnly at the village boundaries. Kamaboko had on his backpack and brown traveling boots. He also had the sheath for the Katana of Light attached to his belt, with the said katana resting silently inside._

"_Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Harumi asked Kamaboko._

_Kamaboko lowered his face and replied "Yes. It's my fault he's gone. If I hadn't been knocked out he would probably still be here."_

_Harumi sighed and moved in towards Kamaboko, embracing her childhood friend tightly. After what seemed like an eternity, the two friends broke apart, and Kamaboko began his trek down the path._

"_Don't get yourself killed!" Harumi shouted. In response, Kamaboko lifted his hand over his head, and waved._

_**End of Flashback**_

"Phew, looks like we're out far enough for me to train you." a voice to his left said, startling Kamaboko. He quickly turned to his left, and saw an almost identical copy of himself, the only difference being that the voice's owner had the same color scheme as Dark Link. Kamaboko felt fear bubble up in his chest, only for it to be squashed when he recognized the other him.

"Naruto? What's going on?"

In answer, Naruto smiled and pointed to the Kamaboko's feet. Kamaboko lowered his head, jumped several feet in the air, and did a very anime style face fault.

Naruto got a very toothy grin on his face, and began to laugh…hard. "Bwahahaha, you should have seen your face. You were like all 'Holy crap, where'd my shadow go. I need it for picking up chicks…and being human. But picking up chicks is more important' Well, to put it bluntly, I've merged with your shadow, using some sort of technique the Kyuubi taught me. How it works exactly, I have no idea. You should ask the fox sometime."

Kamaboko looked as though he were about to start hyperventilating, so Naruto thought it best to save the explanation on the different types of shadow beings for another day. Nope, instead he decided to download all of the basic jutsus, chakra concepts and theories he had ever learned into the mind of Kamaboko using a technique that had `both a high fatality ratio and the possibility of adding all of his memories into Kamaboko's memory banks. And, not to mention the fact that the Kyuubi had only taught Naruto how to use it last night while Kamaboko was recovering from his wounds. Oh, and the fact that Naruto was exhausted from the all-nighter that he pulled to learn the stupid jutsu in the first place. But that wasn't what he said to Kamaboko. No, what Naruto said went more along the lines of "You wanna become a ninja."

Kamaboko's eyes widened as he exclaimed "Is that a trick question?"

Naruto smiled broadly and motioned for Kamaboko to come closer. When Kamaboko was close enough, Naruto reached out and rested his hand on Kamaboko's forehead, activating the memory download. Kamaboko stiffened as his eyes snapped shut. Almost instantly, four years of Ninja Academy training was suddenly slammed down his mind's throat. Images of diagrams and scrolls flashed through his mind. He was right in the middle of learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu, when strange images began to flash through his mind. He saw four people, the first a raven-haired boy, the second a pink-haired girl, the third a man with spiky, white hair and a headband over his left eye, and the fourth an indigo-haired girl with pupiless lavender eyes. But before he had time to retrieve information on who they were, the Shadow Clone Jutsu was shoved back into his mind's face.

About ten seconds later, the download was complete, and Kamaboko opened his eyes, and let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

" Soooo, did it work?" Naruto said while stepping backwards. Kamaboko smiled and brought his hands into a cross handsign that Naruto immediately recognized as the handsign for the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Two Kamabokos suddenly appeared on both sides of the original. "You tell me." Kamaboko said in answer. Naruto stepped backwards, dumbstruck.

"Amazing." Naruto said aloud, as Kamaboko's shadow clones poofed out of existence in clouds of smoke. "You can access your chakra without the intense physical training required for most ninja to access their chakra. Your yellow chakra really is amazing!"

"Yellow chakra?" Kamaboko asked confused. His newly obtained knowledge told him that everyone had blue chakra.

"Oh, right. You couldn't know, could you." Naruto thought aloud. "Well, as you should know by now, all normal humans have blue chakra. You, however, are not so normal. You were born with a special yellow chakra, instead of the normal blue. Sadly, though, the only property of yellow chakra we are aware of are it's ability to be molded without intensive training. You also have extraordinarily large chakra reserves that are even bigger than mine, and mine are huge. I'm betting that you will almost never experience chakra exhaustion." Naruto paused for a moment and then said " I'll be right back." Suddenly, Naruto's body melted back into the ground, once again becoming Kamaboko's shadow. Kamaboko waited a few minutes, and then, just as suddenly as he had left, Naruto was back.

"Even more amazing! It appears as if there's some sort of mutation in your DNA sequence that dates back to my time. It was most likely caused by the radiation released by me while I was sealing away the Master of Shadows. It appears to be making you unable to use any form of Genjutsu, but in return makes you impervious to all genjutsu. I'm willing to guess that everyone on the planet has this same ability… wait a second, how could that trait help you if no one can use genjutsu to begin with." Naruto stopped for a second to breathe. "Oh, it also looks like you had a bloodline trait that was lying dormant within you. Apparently, it was released when the Katana of Light accepted you. Try activating it by molding some chakra into your eyes, assuming it's an eye bloodline, of course."

` Kamaboko did what Naruto said, and then felt an odd buzzing feeling in his eyes that lasted a few seconds, but then left suddenly. Kamaboko frowned. He felt no different than he did before the attempt.

Naruto gave him an encouraging smile, and said " Don't worry, you'll get it eventually. I'm beginning to run low on energy, so I have to return to your mindscape for now. If you have any more questions, just think them in your head as if you were talking to somebody. Good-bye for now."

"Yeah, bye." Kamaboko replied as Naruto's body once again became a shadow on the ground. Then, Kamaboko began to walk again. His destination, Satoshi Village, the Village of Scholars. There he would try to find someone with knowledge of the Katana of Light, and try to find someone who's selling a map of Jya. At the thought of his home continent's name, he wondered how Naruto would react to common Jyan culture. Except for Ryota and Satoshi Village, which have always been big on tradition, the culture of Naruto's time was extinct. He desperately hoped Naruto could remember Jyan names as well as Ryotan names.

And so Kamaboko continued his three day trek to Satoshi Village.

The Master of Shadows stared downward from his throne at the fifth best soldier currently in his army. She was here for a debriefing on her latest mission to another universe, for these were the missions she greatly excelled at. Her mission had been to observe the Earth of Universe 1.1074 from a space colony the Shadow Master had set up on a planet in the neighboring system of Alpha Centauri. There appeared to be multiple uprisings to a dictatorship on the North American continent, but besides that the planet was boring him greatly. Even his home world, the planet Chikyuu of Universe 75.56, which had only the Alter and the Artifact of Twilight as attractions was more interesting than this poor excuse for an Earth.

"Take it off our primary observation list." he ordered a servant to his side, who quickly scurried away to the Data Room. Then the Master of Shadows turned to his second best soldier with new orders.

"Your next assignment is to track down and kill the Hero of End, who's name we've recently found out is Kamaboko Tanaka. My sources tell me that he's just arrived in a village several miles south of here called Satoshi Village. You are to wear a disguiser to mask your hair, skin, and eye color. That is all."

"Ah. Might I ask why this is my mission and not Number One's or Number Two's?" she inquired.

The Master of Shadows smiled and said "Link, my current Number 2, has been promoted to the commander of Taskforce Beta. He needs time to organize his new troops in a way that he sees fit. Also, because of Link's recent promotion, you and the human are now the only two members of my elite team, which is commonly known as Taskforce Alpha. As for Number One, she is leading an extermination attempt on Universe 56.678's Earth. According to my spies, that Earth has citizens capable of a weaker version of the Divine Practice, also called magic."

The second best scoffed. "Oh joy, stuck on a team with the only other member being a human. Not to mention the only human in the entire freaking army."

The Master frowned, and shot back "Watch your tone with me, Jasmina. Even as powerful as you are, I could still vaporize you at any moment."

"Fine, I'll be going then." Jasmina pouted as she turned and began to walk out of the throne room.

"Wait, one more thing. Whatever happened to my old servant Nire?" the Master of Shadows asked.

As Jasmina exited the room, she answered him. "She left while you were sealed away. I believe that she tried to take over her home world in Universe 2.08 under the name, the Shadowmaster. She ultimately failed, and was killed by a member of my old team, Taskforce Delta."

"I would expect no less from the taskforce in charge of multiversal affairs." the Master of Shadows spoke approvingly.

Jasmina giggled. "They are the best at their profession."

"Alright! I'm here!" Kamaboko cheered as he walked through the village gates, a big grin on his face. He was now within the walls of possibly the most technologically advanced places on all of Chikyuu, Satoshi Village. He had even heard that they were working on recreating an ancient device called a "television". It had supposedly had pictures that moved. Maybe he would check out the Jya Museum to find out if what he had heard was true, since he already had to go there for information on the Master of Shadows and the Katana of Light. But, sadly, that would have to wait until after he had found a map of Jya. He would need that to find his way around the continent. Otherwise, he'd be as blind as a cavefish while traveling.

Kamaboko walked up to a store named "Huhu's Cartography". He could immediately tell by the name of the store that its owner was not Ryoshi, the name given to citizens of Ryota and Satoshi Village. As he walked into the store, his suspicions were confirmed. The decorations were definitely from northern Jya. All over the walls, objects related to northerner culture were hung. He even saw a Tyru Village long sword, which the village had became so famous for.

Kamaboko walked up to the counter and asked the store owner "Hello, I was wondering if you had a map of the entire continent."

The store owner scratched his chin for a second, and then replied. " I do have one, but it's part of a package containing individual maps of every village on the continent. But it ain't cheap. 500 uros" (A/N 500 uros is about the equivalent of 100 US dollars)

Kamaboko hesitated for a second, but grudgingly dug the coins out of his backpack. The shopkeeper smiled and handed Kamaboko his change and a burlap sack that contained the maps. The shopkeeper told him to have a nice day, and Kamaboko left the shop.

After he exited the shop, Kamaboko strolled over to a wooded bench, sat down, and examined his purchase.

'_At least the maps seem to be reliable.'_ Kamaboko thought to himself as he examined a detailed map of Satoshi Village. He had discovered that the village was divided into four sectors. The Northern Sector was one big marketplace. The Western Sector was entirely devoted to history, and contained the Jya Museum. The Eastern Sector housed the inventors and the laboratories. And the Southern Sector, where he was now and where he had entered the village, contained businesses. He carefully returned the map to the sack, which he placed in the front pocket of his backpack. He then made his way to the Western Sector. When he arrived at the border between sectors, it was like he entered a completely different world. Large shops and paved roads melted into stands next to a dirt road displaying archeological finds. He wandered around for a bit before making his way to the museum. As he walked up to the extremely large building, he noticed that it was made of white marble, not wood like the rest of the village. He stepped through the large, arched doorway and into a humongous foyer that had signs pointing the way to different exhibits.

He strolled up to the front desk, and asked the receptionist "Hello there, I was wondering if I could see the curator."

The receptionist, who was a young, brown-haired woman with tan colored eyes, replied " I'm sorry, the curator is seeing someone at the moment, but he should be finished momentarily."

As if on cue, a man exited the room marked "Curator's Office" and exited through the museum's front door. Then a male voice suddenly came out of a box next to the women's desk. _"Is there anyone else who needs to see me, Ree?"_ the women named Ree then pressed a button and replied back "Yes Mr. Arai. A young child. Probably here for a school project."

"_Send him in, then."_

Ree replied "Ok." and then told Kamaboko that he could enter the curator's office. Kamaboko did as he was told, and entered the office. Inside was Mr. Arai, middle-aged man with graying black hair and emerald-green eyes. He was sitting behind a wooden desk. He smiled warmly and said "Why hello there. What's you name."

"Kamaboko."

"Like the type of ramen?"

Kamaboko groaned and said "Yes. Like the type of ramen."

Mr. Arai chuckled for a moment, then said "So, what sector are you from?"

"I'm not from here. I live in Ryota Village."

"Ah, Ryota Village. I remember going to your village once about 10 years ago and asking if they would donate an artifact called the Katana of Light to the museum. They let me look at it, but wouldn't donate it to the museum. Have you ever seen it?"

"Yes. In fact…" Kamaboko drew the said katana from its sheath causing Mr. Arai's eyes to widen "…it chose me as its wielder."

Mr. Arai scanned the katana with his eyes, then said "Well, it's definitely real. There's no way somebody could duplicate that glow. Is the katana why you're here?"

Kamaboko sheathed the katana, then sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. " Yes, sir. But I'm also looking for information on what Jya was like about seven-hundred years ago."

Mr. Arai frowned, then answered "That's a tough one. Well, we do know that it wasn't called Jya back then, though we're not sure what it was called. We also know that it housed the last countries. I guess the idea of large nations just never took-off again after the last ones fell apart, although we do have many villages that act as independent city-states. Of course, there's also the story on the Day of Destruction, but since you're a Ryotan, I figure you probably already know that story, right?" When Kamaboko nodded, Mr. Arai continued. "Besides that, there's just the fact that the ninja arts were lost along with the ninja villages. As for the Katana of Light, I really don't know anything about it. Embarrassing, I know. Any other questions?"

Just as he was about to ask about the Master of Shadows, a strange tablet to the left caught Kamaboko's eye. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the tablet. Mr. Arai's eyes brightened when he saw where Kamaboko was pointing.

"That tablet contains an ancient story from about 1,700 years ago. It was told by an advanced civilization of people who ruled the entire continent. They were centralized at an ancient town called the Village Hidden in the Shadows. But, in the year 1016 AD on their calendar, they disappeared, from a cause unknown. The story depicts six ancient items, supposedly predating the universe itself. These items were simply called the Artifacts. There were called the Artifact of Time, the Artifact of Seasons, the Artifact of Power, the Artifact of Magic, the Artifact of Space, and the Artifact of Twilight. The story says that whoever collects them and places them on something within the Temple of Shadows will gain great power. But it's just a myth. No such 'Artifacts' have ever come close to resembling the description given by the story, save for the Katana of Light, which has a description vaguely resembling the Artifact of Twilight in the story."

"Ok. Do you know anything about a man named the Master of Shadows." Kamaboko asked.

Mr. Arai thought for a second, then said "No, I've never heard of him."

"Ok. I'd better get going now, but thanks for all your help." Kamaboko told him.

"Your welcome. And thank you for listening." Mr. Arai said as Kamaboko left the room."

'_What a nice boy'_ Mr. Arai thought as Kamaboko exited the room. He watched the boy leave, then went back to his paperwork. About twenty minutes later, though, Ree spoke through the intercom. _"Mr. Arai, sir. There's someone here to see you. It's a teenage girl."_

Mr. Arai pressed the talk button and replied "Send her in." About a moment later, a girl of about sixteen with black hair and gold-colored eyes walked in.

Mr. Arai smiled and said "Hello there. What's your name?"

The girl smiled back and replied.

"My name is Jasmina Corey."


	6. Chapter 6: Hotel Showdown

_Last thing I remember, I was_

_Running for the door_

_I had to find the passage back_

_To the place I was before_

_'relax,' said the night man,_

_We are programmed to recieve._

_You can checkout any time you like,_

_But you can never leave!_

Hotel California

By: Eagle

**Arc One: Chapter Six: Hotel Showdown**

**August 10, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D./Post Day of Destruction)**

**Satoshi Village**

**5:47 P.M.**

Kamaboko yawned as he walked down the main dirt road of Satoshi Village's Western Sector. _'I'd better find a hotel to stay at before it gets to dark.'_ Kamaboko thought to himself as he yawned again.

"_Hey, why haven't you asked me for help yet!"_ Naruto spoke into Kamaboko's head.

"_**Maybe because he isn't as helpless as you were at twelve, idiot!"**_ Kyuubi roared.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised you guys can speak directly into my mind." Kamaboko said aloud, causing a few heads to look at him, since Kamaboko appeared to be talking to no one.

"_**Hey, Idiot Number 2! Speak through your thoughts, not your voice. Honestly, you'll get yourself thrown into an insane asylum."**_ Kyuubi yelled at Kamaboko.

'_After dealing with you guys, I'll probably need it.'_ Kamaboko mentally mumbled.

` _"We heard that!" _yelled both Naruto and Kyuubi.

After that, Naruto and the Kyuubi began to bicker about something to do with what color the sky was, while Kamaboko began to search for a hotel. It took him awhile, but Kamaboko finally found one in the Southern Sector called "the Asahina Tavern." He entered through the double door, and looked around. _'Not much to see.' _Kamaboko thought to himself. It was just your basic restaurant inn. He then walked over to the front desk and booked himself a room. He was about to leave the lobby, when his stomach growled. _'Might as well eat dinner before heading to my room.'_ Kamaboko thought as he made his way to the restaurant he got there, Kamaboko walked over to the nearest table and sat down on one of the mats. He read through the menu until the waitress arrived.

"Hello," she said in a soft voice "I'm Mikuru Asahina and I'll be your waitress for this evening. Have you decided on what you want to order yet?"

"_Ramen!"_ screamed Naruto.

"_**Raw Meat!"**_ roared Kyuubi.

"Chicken soup, please." Kamaboko told the waitress while ignoring Naruto and Kyuubi's "suggestions."

"Coming right up." she replied while smiling sweetly.

Kamaboko couldn't help smiling back. _'What a cute girl.'_ he thought to himself as she walked away.

* * *

**Satoshi Village: Western Sector**

Jasmina released her grip on the museum curators neck. The man had actually died about two minutes ago, but she had to make sure he was dead, right?

"Filthy humans." she said aloud. "It's hard to believe a race as physically weak as your's could possess such intellect." Many shadow beings harbored extreme hatred for mankind, save for the Master of Shadows. But nobody hated humans like Jasmina.

Jasmina walked out the office's door and then out the museum's front door. As she descended down the steps in front of the museum, Jasmina faintly heard a woman's scream.

Jasmina smiled at a job well done.

* * *

**Southern Sector: Asahina Tavern**

Kamaboko opened the door to his room. He had just eaten dinner and was suffering from the dreaded after meal drowsiness. Kamaboko closed and locked his room's door, lay down on his bed, and fell asleep…only to be awoken by the sound of an explosion.

"_Kamaboko! Wake up! Something is attacking the tavern!"_ Naruto yelled.

"Really? Couldn't tell." Kamaboko said aloud, sarcastically. Then he jumped out of his bed and ran down the hallway. When he arrived in the lobby, it was but a pile of rubble. All around, bloodied corpses of people littered the floor. In the center of the ruined lobby, was a figure that almost sent Kamaboko into hyperventilation. The figure was a girl of about sixteen, and had waist long black hair and gold colored eyes. But as he looked on, a dark light surrounded the girl. When it vanished the girl's skin had turned gray. Her eyes had changed color as well.

For they were now crimson red.

The girl turned towards Kamaboko and said "You don't know how good it feels to finally take that damn Disguiser off. The thing itches like crazy!"

"By my guess, I'd say you you're in with the Dark Link and the Master of Shadows." Kamaboko spoke icily.

"You know, you're pretty cute. If you were a shadow being you'd be my type of guy. But sadly, my orders are to capture you. My name's Jasmina, by the way." She said as she winked at him. It would have been cute had she not just killed many people.

"How could you do something like this?" he said while gesturing to the dead bodies.

"I wanted to have some fun. I haven't had a good massacre in about twenty years."

"Twe-twenty years!" Kamaboko stuttered. "Just how old are you?"

"It's not polite to ask a girl's age. But if you really must know, I just had my one-thousand seven-hundred and twelfth birthday." She pouted.

Kamaboko digested this information quite easily, seeing as he had already encountered a sword-wielding psychopathic shadow being; an immature, seven-hundred year-old blond; and a hot-headed demon fox thing. A girl shadow being that was over one-thousand years-old suddenly didn't seem like such an uncommon thing, allowing Kamaboko to recompose himself.

"You look pretty good for someone your age." he spoke icily to Jasmina.

Jasmina shrugged and said "I'm a Type Three shadow being. We can only age in the Shadow World."

Seeing an opportunity to gather information, Kamaboko began to question her. "So, how many types of shadow beings are there?"

Jasmina began to tap her chin, and said "Three, I think. Type One shadow beings are just basically mindless puppets created from random shadows on the ground. Level Two shadow beings are created from a human or other living being's shadow. Unlike Ones, Twos have a mind and are almost as powerful as Type Threes. We Threes are not created by anyone, and don't you forget it! We were born in the Shadow World, a large distortion in multiversal space right outside of your home universe. Only there can any shadow being (One, Two, or Three) age. Now, if we are quite done talking, I would like to finish my mission." Jasmina then pulled a sword out of a sheath attached to the back of her black robe. Kamaboko recognized the design of the sword. It looked like it was from Britannia, a western continent that was well known for it's fertile farmlands.

"Say hello to _Caledfwlch."_ Jasmina yelled as she lunged at Kamaboko. Suddenly, a light-blue beam shot out of the sword at Kamaboko, but he dodged it. When he looked back to where he had been standing before, the ground was now covered in a thick layer of ice. _'Why can't anything be simple!'_ Kamaboko mentally complained as he made the handsigns for Shadow Clone Jutsu. _'And why,'_ he thought as twelve shadow clones appeared. _'is this the only battle jutsu Naruto gave me in the memory transfer.'_

"_**Cause it's the only one he knows."**_

"_Not true! __I also know the Rasengan."_

"_**Then why didn't you teach it to Kamaboko?"**_

"_Because it has to be taught through training. Not through some stupid memory transfer thing!"_

'_Not the time, guys.'_ Kamaboko told Naruto and Kyuubi as he dodged a bolt lightning, while Jasmina was laughing maniacally.

"Finally! An opponent who can actually dodge _Caledfwlch's_ magic. I haven't had this much fun in years. Not since the Panem War of 2534" Jasmina cried between laughing bouts.

Pretty soon Kamaboko's clones had been destroyed by various fire, ice, and lightning attacks. The battle had moved out onto the street in front of the Asahina Tavern's scorched/frozen remains. Kamaboko suddenly got grazed by one of Jasmina's fireballs, and cried out in pain. Luckily, his shirt didn't catch fire, but his left arm was badly burned.

"_**I'll try to heal it!"**_ Kyuubi told Kamaboko.

Almost instantly, the burn on Kamaboko's arm hurt a lot less. He got off his knees quickly and almost failed to block a slash from a flame-bladed _Caledfwlch_. Kamaboko quickly took advantage of Jasmina's close proximity and grabbed her wrist with his left hand. Despite the intense pain that still lingered from his burn wound, Kamaboko managed to twist Jasmina's hand, making her drop _Caledfwlch_. Kamaboko stabbed his katana straight through her heart, causing Jasmina to grunt as her face changed into a wide-eyed expression. She fell to the ground. Kamaboko then bent down to remove the Katana of Light from Jasmina's chest, when her hand shot up and grasped his.

"I can't believe you killed me." she said. "I greatly underestimated you. Let me warn you, though. Most of the other shadow beings in the Master of Shadow's Elite Force wont be as reckless as me. You'll have to greatly improve your skill to face them." Jasmina remained silent for a moment, then said "You know, my race has always said that when a shadow being is close to death, his inner conscience comes to the surface and shows itself. I guess it wasn't a legend after all. I now realize the true results of my actions, not my old 'for the good of the Shadow Army' crap. I now know of the pain I caused people. The endless acts of unprovoked violence. The Master of Shadows never cared about us. Only his goal mattered to him. I wish I could change what I've done." Jasmina then began to cough up a purple liquid, which was most likely her blood.

"Then make-up for what you have done! Tell me what the Master of Shadows plans to do!" Kamaboko cried out.

Jasmina coughed up some more blood, then said weakly "He never told us _'cough'_, and when we asked about it, he only said 'What would you do if you were more powerful than God himself.'" Jasmina slowly turned her head towards her fallen sword, _Caledfwlch_. "You know," she said with a weak smile. "my sword has another name. A name that is actually quite famous on many worlds. Its other name is…" she hacked up more blood.

"_Excalibur_." she finished after her coughing fit. "I'd like you to have it, Kamaboko. For you deserve that sword more than I did." Jasmina paused for a second. "What a beautiful night." she said quietly, as if not to wake a baby. "The stars here are so beautiful."

And then Jasmina was dead.

* * *

_R.I.P._

_Jasmina_

_?-700 P.D.D._

_In the end, she discovered the truth._

Kamaboko had finished the epitaph on Jasmina's headstone, and now stood just outside Satoshi Village's city wall. Beside him stood Naruto in the form of Kamaboko's shadow. They both stared solemnly at the new grave for a few minutes, and after a while Naruto wordlessly returned to Kamaboko's mindscape. Kamaboko departed Satoshi Village soon after. He now had two sheaths attached to his belt. One held the Katana of Light. The other, _Excalibur_. It was now one of the only two things Jasmina had left behind. The other was a three inch long burn scar Kyuubi had failed to heal, due to interference from Kamaboko's yellow chakra.

* * *

**Author's Note****:**

Hey, The Revenge here to clear up something about the story. Ok, about the whole "Mikuru Asahina" thing. Throughout my story I'm going to have both characters from other universes as well as character doubles. Doubles are basically the alternate version of a certain person or thing. If you haven't figured it out by now, the Mikuru Asahina in my story is a double of the Mikuru Asahina in "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." Type Three shadow beings kind of work the same way, like how Dark Link is the shadow double of Link, and Jasmina is the shadow double of a teenage witch named Jasmina Corey (From a novel called "L.O.S.T.").

Until next time.

The Revenge of the Mask.


	7. Chapter 7: Sickle y sus Dos Soldados

**Arc One: Chapter Seven: Sickle y sus Dos Soldados**

**July 23, 3018 A.D.**

**Universe 1.1**

**Planet: Terra (Earth)**

**Location: Terra Prime Capitol Building in Washington D.C.**

**7:30 P.M.**

38 year-old Nicholas Price gazed out of the capitol building's large window. The view was spectacular. Stretched out in front of him was the shimmering capitol city of Terra Prime, a democratic country that had the best and most up-to-date technology in the entire Milky Way galaxy. And he was the president of it. If only he could be as carefree as the people driving home from work in their Skycars. But alas, he had to deal with the terror of extrauniversal affairs.

"Mr. President, the report you requested is here."

'_Speak of the devil.'_ he thought as he turned around. Behind him was the head of the government agency called The Bureau of Multiversal Affairs, Kary Whittle. In her hand was a data pad that contained the said report. Nicholas took the report and began to read through it.

_Warning, the following is classified Top Secret. If this information were to reach the public, the entirety of the Milky Way would be plunged into anarchy. If you are authorized, read on._

_As of July 23, 3018; Universe 75.56 (Local time: August 12, 2758) has become increasingly unstable. Despite the warning given directly by God himself to not interfere, there are still some who wish to do exactly that. Luckily, most representatives wish to concentrate on the goal He gave us, and make contact with the Girl of Legend. It is said that we are to train her to defeat the Master of Souls, and not to interfere with the battle between the Hero of End and the Master of Shadows._

_Moving on, we have successfully obtained the Artifact of Shockwaves, a gauntlet capable of sending shockwaves through the air and/or objects. It is currently planned that we shall give this Artifact to the Girl of Legend to aide her in defeating the Master of Souls. To read more about the three girls who could potentially be the Girl of Legend, read below._

_Ryou Fujibayashi (Universe 1.289)- Has the most potential of the three. Has been known to make accurate and semi-accurate predictions of the future._

_Tsukasa Hiiragi (Universe 1.956)- A double of Ryou. Seems to have a wave of temporal energy around here that is similar to the Hero of End's yellow chakra._

_[censored](Universe 1.345)- Found to not be the Girl of Legend. Instead, she may very well be an [censored]._

Nicholas looked up from the data pad and asked Kary "Anything new that's not related to the end of life as we know it?"

Kary fidgeted for a second, then said "Well, sir. Observations of the quarantined Universe 2.20 have been fruitful. We seem to have discovered a new type of warrior. Something called a "Flame Haze." My colleague, Dr. Ichinose, has informed me that nothing like them can be found in most other universes. But, um, besides that nothing else."

"At least something's going right." Nicholas stated blandly. He paused for a second, then added " Dr. Whittle, I'd like you to give the field agents in the Intelligence Sector a message. Tell them to send agents to the universes of the two remaining Girl of Legend candidates."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

**August 12, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Kowai Village**

**10:34 A.M.**

Kamaboko trudged through the walls that surrounded Kowai Village. He had been traveling for two days since the incident in Satoshi Village. Along the way, Naruto had begun training Kamaboko on Rasengan, Naruto's most powerful attack. Kyuubi had also tried to help Kamaboko release his bloodline, but all attempts were fruitless.

All around him, people went about their daily lives, unaware of the terror that loomed on the horizon. _'Hey Naruto,'_ he mentally said. _'Ever since the battle with Jasmina, I can't stop thinking about what she said about the Shadow Master's plan. What do you think of it?"_

"_I think that the Master of Shadows is just another megalomaniac jerk that has way to many delusions of power. I wouldn't get to worried."_ Naruto responded.

'_You're probably right.'_ Kamaboko said back. They then experienced a period of uneasy silence, a silence that was broken by the Kyuubi.

"_**It's possible."**_

'_What is?'_ Kamaboko responded.

"_**What Jasmina hinted to. You remember what Jasmina hinted to, right? 'What would you do if you were more powerful than God.' That sounds an awful lot like what that Mr. Arai guy said."**_

"_You know, you're right. That would also explain why the Shadow Master wants the _Katana of Light _so much. Mr. Arai said that the katana resembled an Artifact, one of those mystical things said to grant great power."_ Naruto mused.

"_**Wow. Looks like the idiot finally decided to grow a brain."**_

"_Hey! I'm not an idio…"_

"Shut up!" Kamaboko screamed aloud, startling several people around him. _'This is serious. Innocent people have died for something they took no part in, and you guys are bickering like five-year-old children! Until you get your act together, nobody talks!'_

Kamaboko's words were followed by silence. Kamaboko then began to shake his head in aggravation. Why oh why did they have to be such idiots he asked himself as he walked down the dirt street, unaware of the three figures that watched him from the shadows.

**3:20 P.M.**

Kamaboko sat in a café called _Rehui_ and sipped some of his green tea. It had been hours since Kamaboko had heard from either Naruto or Kyuubi, and he was enjoying every minute of the sweet, sweet silence.

Cue the giant, mood ruining explosion in 3...2...1...BOOM!

The building in front of the café suddenly exploded in a flaming ball of…well, fire. From the flames, three figures suddenly emerged. From their dark grey skin tone, Kamaboko could easily tell that the figures were shadow beings. The one in front had black hair and crimson eyes, and looked to be about twenty-five. The boy to his right looked to be about eighteen, and had white hair and, to Kamaboko's surprise, eyes with no irises. Just the pupil and the eyes' white was visible. The girl to the man's left looked about fifteen, and had hair and eyes the color of a blazing fire.

"I take it you are Kamaboko Tanaka?" the man asked.

"What do you want?" Kamaboko snarled back.

"We have been sent to acquire you by the Master of Shadows. I am Captain Sickle, leader of Taskforce Omega. These are my top lieutenants. The boy's name is Hielo, and the girl's name is Incendio."

"I don't remember asking for your names." Kamaboko spat.

Incendio's face suddenly contorted with rage. "How dare you!" she screamed. "We are Type 2 shadow beings! We are above you! How dare you insult us!"

"That's enough, Incendio." Sickle spoke with obvious authority in his voice. Incendio quickly backed down.

"Yes, captain." she said respectfully.

"You do know that I am a Type 3 shadow being, right Incendio?" Sickle asked.

"Yes, sir. I got carried away. I'm very sorry, sir." Incendio apologized.

"I'd hate to interrupt, but…" Kamaboko drew the _Katana of Light_ from it's sheath. "I believe you came here for a reason."

"That we have. Incendio! Hielo! Show this human how Omegas handle business!" Sickle yelled.

"Yes, sir!" Both Incendio and Hielo spoke in unison. Then the two shadow beings drew their weapons. Incendio drew a katana that's blade instantly burst into flames, and Hielo grabbed a five foot long trident that he had had slung across his back. Then the two shadow beings threw themselves at Kamaboko. Incendio sent short bursts of fire towards Kamaboko, while Hielo sent a barrage of razor sharp icicles raining down on him from above. Kamaboko avoided most of the fire bursts, but he was occasionally grazed by one of Hielo's icicles.

Kamaboko smirked. This was the perfect opportunity to use the new technique he had learned to do using the _Katana of Light_. Kamaboko positioned his katana horizontally near his shoulder and slashed outward, sending a six foot wide arc of amplified yellow chakra towards Incendio and Hielo.

"Solar Flare!" Kamaboko screamed as he declared the name for his new attack.

Incendio and Hielo barely dodged the first Solar Flare, when Kamaboko began to send new flares at them. The two shadow beings frantically bent into extremely awkward positions to avoid being hit. This didn't last forever, though. Incendio was suddenly sliced open at her waist, separating her legs from her torso. She screamed as the two halves of her hit the ground. Kamaboko then sped towards Hielo, and engaged the shadow being in a swordfight.

"Looks like you shadow beings are easier to kill than I originally thought." Kamaboko spoke between the clangs of metal-on-metal.

Hielo continued to give the blank look he had worn since the beginning of the battle. "You are mistaken." Hielo spoke emotionless.

As if on cue, a ball of fire suddenly hurled itself towards Kamaboko and Hielo, causing them to jump backwards to avoid getting scorched. Kamaboko turned his head quickly and looked towards the source of the fireball, and gasped when he saw who had caused it.

There, in front of him, was an unscratched and unhurt Incendio.

"How?" Kamaboko stammered.

Incendio smirked and said "We Type 2's are made so that we can only be killed if our opponent pierces our Achilles Heel, another name for our weak point. Any damage done to any other area of our body will be instantly healed."

"Thank you for giving away your weakness." Kamaboko said through a smirk. He then sent a rapid barrage of Solar Flares at Incendio. The said shadow being occasionally bent right or left, but let every Flare slice her body. When her body had finished healing, she looked at him and said "What a useless gesture. None of them hurt me."

"They weren't meant to, Kamaboko suddenly said from behind Incendio. She suddenly realize that the Kamaboko in front of her was a Shadow Clone created before her eyes had healed. But before Incendio could turn around, she felt a piercing pain. Her eyes shot downward, and saw the silver blade of _Excalibur_ protruding from her neck. For the first time in her long life, Incendio felt fear.

"Top vertebrae on your neck." Kamaboko said blankly. "I noticed that it was the only thing you bothered protecting."

Incendio's body then began to give off a purplish smoke, and slowly disappeared. After she had gone, the three white gems on _Excalibur's_ cross-guard, the top part of the hilt, turned red.

A clapping Captain Sickle walked into view. Sickle fake-smiled and said "Well done, young Hero of End. You managed to kill Incendio. But let me warn you. You won't be so lucky the next time we meet. As for right now, that idiot Incendio accidentally burned some of Hielo's Achilles Heel, so I need to take him back to base."

"Don't think I'll let you go that easily!" Kamaboko roared as he charged at Sickle. Before Kamaboko had gotten anywhere near Sickle, though; Kamaboko was blown several feet backwards.

"Ha, You're letting me go. Don't make me laugh. I'm letting 'you' go." and then Captain Sickle was gone.

* * *

**August 13, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

Kamaboko walked out through the Kowai Village's gates. It had been a day since the battle against Captain Sickle and his lackeys, and Kamaboko was getting ready to move on to the next town. The Temple of Shadows was now only about a week away.

"_Hey, Kamaboko. Me and the Kyuubi have decided that we'll try not to argue as much. Is that good with…dear lord! What happened to your body! Your covered in millions of scrapes and bruises._

"_**As you can see, Kamaboko; the idiot had no idea that your were in a fight."**_

"_Kamaboko was in a fight? When the hell did that happen?_

__

_

* * *

_

Alright. The Revenge here with some more explanations. The chapter's name is actually Spanish for "Sickle and his Two Soldiers." As for the names of Hielo and Incendio; hielo is Spanish for ice and incendio is Spanish for fire.

Easter Egg Doubles/Shadow Beings:

Incendio- Shana (Shakugan no Shana)


	8. Chapter 8: The Ninja, the Esper, and

**Arc One: Chapter Eight: The Esper, the Ninja, and the Wardrobe**

**August 18, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Jyan Plains**

**10:34 P.M.**

Kamaboko sighed as he stared up at the starry sky. It was stunningly beautiful. Nearly every bit of the midnight blue sky was lit up with stars. But, try as he might, Kamaboko could not bring himself to enjoy it. Inside of him, a torrent of emotions swept through his mind. Kamaboko was unsure of what to make of them. Kamaboko knew that he was extremely worried about his younger brother, Hisao, and that he hated the Master of Shadows. Besides those two emotions, though, Kamaboko wasn't sure how he felt.

"_You ok, Kama?"_ Naruto asked, concerned.

'_I…don't know.'_ Kamaboko responded. Then he lowered his head from the sky just in time to see his shadow morph into the form of Naruto.

"You'd better find out then. I can't have you getting distracted in battles." Naruto said through a grin.

"Yeah." Kamaboko responded. There was a brief pause, and then Kamaboko spoke again. "Hey, Naruto. How do you cope with killing someone?"

Naruto's grin disappeared suddenly. In its place, now, was a look of understanding. "Think of it this way." Naruto began. "If you hadn't killed them, they probably would've killed you. That philosophy's both kept me alive and, as a bonus, sane."

After Naruto finished speaking, there was another brief moment of silence that ended when Kamaboko asked "How would you cope with a loved one's kidnapping?"

Naruto frowned and said "I'm not quite sure that I'm the right person to ask that question. You see, I've never had a family. Both my parents died minutes after I was born. You see, what happened was that Kyuubi, who was a bit of a asshole back then…"

"_**Screw you Naruto!"**_

"Shut up, Kyuubi! You're ruining the mood. Anyways, Kyuubi decided it'd be fun to destroy my home village, called the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"_**I was being controlled by Madara!"**_

"Hey, who's telling the story here? Back to the story, then. An evil man named Madara Uchiha extracted the Kyuubi from his previous jinchuuriki host, my mother Kushina Uzumaki, and killed her in the process. Shortly after, Madara used his eye bloodline, called the Sharingan, to control Kyuubi. Madara then ordered Kyuubi to attack my village. In order to stop him, my father, Minato Namikaze, used the Reaper Death Seal to seal Kyuubi and half of his chakra inside of me. The rest of it was sealed inside my father, who died from the effects of the jutsu."

"_**He didn't ask for your life's story, Naruto."**_

"_Yeah…well…shut up!"_

Kamaboko smiled as Kyuubi and Naruto continued their bickering. And then, even if it was just for a few minutes, Kamaboko forgot about his all his worries.

**August 20, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Druanga Village**

**2:04 P.M.**

Kamaboko grinned widely as he entered Druanga Village. All his life he had wanted to come here, but never had the chance.

"_**Why so giddy, Kamaboko?"**_ Kyuubi asked.

"_Yeah, really. It's starting to creep me out."_ Naruto added.

'_Why wouldn't I be excited I'm in "the" Druanga Village. About 100 years ago, settlers from the continent Britannia came here to start a village. While they adopted our language, Jyanese, the kept their culture intact. It's like a bit of a foreign continent right here in Jya!'_ Kamaboko enthused.

"_**I guess that is pretty neat."**_ Kyuubi replied.

"_Yawn. Boooorinnng! Who cares about some stupid culture. I need action, I need excitement. I need…"_

"_**To shut up!"**_ Kyuubi finished, slightly annoyed.

"_Exactly…hey! Wait a minute."_

Kamaboko shook his head as the arguing once again started. _'They're like a quarreling married couple.'_ he thought to himself. Then he continued down the paved road. All around him, marble buildings with ornate pillars lined the main road. Kamaboko grinned. This style of building was first created by citizens of the Imperio Romana, an ancient Britannian empire that covered most of the continent.

Besides the different style of building, the way the Britannian people looked was also drastically different. Their skin was considerably paler than Kamaboko's own, and their eyes were larger and less slanted as well.

Kamaboko then entered a restaurant, and immediately all eyes were on him. But just as soon as it had happened, the restaurant returned to its normal chatter.

'_Weird.'_ Kamaboko thought to himself. He then sat down on one of the counter seats, and asked a teenager sitting next to him about the strange behavior of the restaurant's tenants.

"Don't worry, it's not you." the teenager spoke back. "Everyone's just been a bit on edge since the incident.

"What happened?" Kamaboko asked.

The teen frowned and replied quietly "About a week ago, a couple was strolling by the old abandoned mansion on the hill. Apparently, the wife heard some strange noises inside the building, and the husband went inside to investigate. Inside, the man said he saw a Jyan of about seventeen that had dark blue hair. Then he said that the Jyan threw some sort of sphere of red energy at him. Obviously he came out alright, otherwise we wouldn't have this story."

Kamaboko was unnerved by the teen's story. The Jyan that had been described to Kamaboko sounded an awfully lot like a shadow being. And if it was one, that could only mean trouble for both the villagers and he himself. _'I'd better take care of this situation before anyone else gets hurt.'_ Kamaboko thought to himself as he ate his meal.

**Druanga Village: Hilltop Mansion**

**7:46 P.M.**

Kamaboko gazed upward towards the silhouette of the enormous mansion. Nervously, Kamaboko approached and opened the door. When he stepped through the doorway, Kamaboko found himself inside an enormous, gothic-styled, and musty foyer. In front of him was an enormous staircase. And at the very top, was a dark blue-haired Jyan of about seventeen.

"So the Master of Shadows sent another one of his lackeys to take me back, huh." the Jyan began. "You'd might as well pack-up and go home filthy shadow being, because I'm never going back to that horrid place!" Then the Jyan leapt forward over an extremely confused Kamaboko, and began to launch balls of red energy towards him.

Kamaboko jumped to the right to avoid the energy balls and exclaimed "Wait a sec! I'm not a shadow being."

The Jyan, however, didn't seem to hear Kamaboko. The Jyan then sent a flurry of red energy bolts towards Kamaboko; who, in turn, deflected them with a few well-placed Solar Flares.

Kamaboko soon realized that his current attacks were getting him nowhere, so he changed to a different Jutsu.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" exclaimed Kamaboko as three of his clones appeared. Then all four Kamabokos rushed the Jyan. The Jyan then sent out an energy blast that destroyed two clones. Then sent a narrow bolt of energy at the third clone. The Jyan smiled as he encased his arm in a razor sharp energy sword, reached out and stabbed the fourth and final Kamaboko…only to have him disappear in a puff of smoke. The Jyan then felt a hard bump on the back of his head and blacked out.

"Never knock the powers of Substitution Jutsu!" Kamaboko exclaimed, grinning. Kamaboko had actually made four clones, three in plain sight and one hidden a little farther back. Then Kamaboko had used Substitution Jutsu to switch places with the hidden clone, and wait for the time to strike.

Kamaboko then bound the Jyan's hands and feet. About an hour later, the Jyan came to, and Kamaboko asked the question that he had been dying to ask. "Who are you?"

The Jyan looked puzzled for a few seconds, then replied "What, your 'Master of Shadows' didn't tell you about me?"

"I don't work with the Master of Shadows." Kamaboko replied. "In fact, I could be called his enemy. And from what I've seen so far, so are you. Are you a shadow being?"

The Jyan paused for a second, then said "No. I'm a human esper. Espers are beings with telekinetic and supernatural powers. My name's Tomoya by the way. Tomoya Okazaki."

Kamaboko wasn't the slightest fazed by this revelation, and asked another question. "Where are you from?"

"Hikarizaka City. It's in Japan." Tomoya replied.

Kamaboko stared back blankly. "Where's that?" he replied dumbly.

Tomoya paused for a few moments then replied "Another world. Another universe."

There was an awkward silence that followed his statement, a silence that was broken when Kamaboko calmly said "Cool. How'd you get here?"

Tomoya was taken aback. "You're…you're not fazed by this at all?" he stuttered back.

Kamaboko looked solemnly to the left, sighed, and replied "To be honest, this past week has given me a brand new definition for the words 'weird shit.'"

"Ah…I see." Tomoya responded.

There was another awkward silence, then Kamaboko asked "So, how'd you become an esper."

Tomoya smiled softly and replied "I was created by a girl named Haruhi Suzumiya when she wished for a more interesting world. You see, none of this stuff is a common occurrence in my world. Our Laws of Physics shouldn't allow it. Heck, before I entered your world I could only use my powers in certain areas of my own."

Kamaboko nodded his head and asked another question. "So, can espers enter alternate universes on a whim?"

Tomoya's face suddenly grew very dark as Kamaboko finished his question. "No. In fact I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the 'Master of Shadows.' He kidnapped me from my world. I fear that he may have some kind of interest in Suzumiya for her mysterious, god-like powers. He can not get his hands on her. I only escaped from his lair because some of his guards got lazy during shift changes." Tomoya's face suddenly lit up as he recalled something. "I was on a date with my girlfriend, Ryou Fujibayashi, when the Master's goons kidnapped me. I hope she's all right."

Kamaboko remained silent for a few seconds, then replied. "You can come with me if you want. I'm going to the Temple of Shadows to rescue my brother. You can ask him for yourself. You'll need a weapon though. As good as your powers are, without a proper weapon you could never beat a high-ranking shadow being." Kamaboko then removed Excalibur and its sheath from his back and handed it to Tomoya. "Here. I'll let you borrow this for a while."

Tomoya smiled as he accepted the lent sword. "Thank you…I never did catch your name."

Kamaboko grinned widely and said back "It's Kamaboko. Kamaboko Tanaka."

**August 23, 2758 (700 P.D.D.)**

**Jyan Plains**

**6:05 A.M.**

Kamaboko and Tomoya stared off into the horizon. There, about a two hour walk away, was a ruined black building that looked like a bunch of rectangular prisms stacked upon one another, getting smaller until it reached a pyramid-like top. It was the Temple of Shadows. The Master of Shadows' stronghold.

* * *

Author's Freakin' Note:

Ah, the character known as Tomoya. I've been waiting since I began this story to include him. But until now could not do anything about it. Basically, he's a character from the anime Clannad. Naturally, now you must be thinking "So he's from a universe similar to the one in Clannad." Wrong! This Tomoya lives in the universe of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. If you've seen this show, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Watch it online! Now! Yes I do mean now!

Also, some of you may be confused about the continets and countries of Kamaboko's world, called Chikyuu (Japanese for Earth). To be honest, some I made up, while others were stolen from from Latin.

Britannia- A European-like continent. Name is Latin for Great Britain.

Jya- Eastern Asian-like continent.

Egyptonia- ...guess what continent this is modeled after.

Imperio Romana- Latin for Roman Empire.

Amurico- North American-like continent

That just about sums it up. Untill next time!

-The Revenge of the Mask


	9. Chapter 9: Revelation

**Arc One: Chapter Nine: Revelation**

**August 23, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Marcelix**

**7:45 A.M.**

Kamaboko and Tomoya stood at the edge of the village Marcelix, a large trading village built in a ring around the Temple of Shadows. The silence around them was deafening, for what should have been a booming center of commerce was, instead, an ominous and abandoned ghost town.

"This is weird." said Tomoya, stating what was on both his and Kamaboko's minds.

"To be honest," Kamaboko replied, "I expected the Master of Shadows to kill everyone in this village. But we haven't come across any dead bodies yet, and by the state of the buildings, this village was only recently abandoned. So the real question is actually where all the people went."

Tomoya stared awestruck at Kamaboko. "How old did you say you were again?"

"Twelve." Kamaboko replied.

Tomoya shook his head and mumbled "And he already seems to be smarter than both me and Sunohara combined."

Kamaboko, ignoring his partner's statement, decided to consult Naruto and Kyuubi on the situation…particularly Kyuubi, though, since Naruto had proven on multiple occasions to be a tiny bit unreliable with information.

"_**I agree with your assumption."**_ Kyuubi replied to Kamaboko.

"_Pfft. I don't know."_ Naruto responded, to no one's surprise.

Kamaboko nodded and then he and Tomoya continued walking towards the heart of the village, where the Temple of Shadows was located. As they continued walking, Tomoya asked "Hey, maybe you should ask Kyuubi about what happened here."

Naruto then appeared next to both of them, thoroughly annoyed. "You know, you could have at least mentioned me" he whined.

* * *

The Master of Shadows looked down at Marcelix from atop one of the Temple's many balconies. The Master smiled as he watched the Hero of End and his esper friend make their way towards the Master of Shadows' headquarters. When they arrived, he hoped to make their stay most "pleasant."

* * *

As Kamaboko and Tomoya neared the Temple of Shadows, they suddenly heard a loud, inhuman scream coming from above. Both Kamaboko and Tomoya immediately looked upward. What was above them easily scored an 11 out of 10 on Kamaboko's "Scale of Weird Shit." Plunging downward towards them, was a beast with a wingspan of about twelve meters, black/purple scales, and a head with two enormous horns. A dragon. But the worst part wasn't the dragon itself. No, it was the rider that sent chills down every one of Kamaboko's bones.

"Dark Link." Kamaboko whispered.

Dark Link smiled insanely as the dragon touched down a few meters from Kamaboko and Tomoya.

"Hand over the Katana of Light, Kamaboko. This is your final warning." Dark Link spoke in his nails on chalkboard voice.

Kamaboko then swallowed his fear, stood up straight, and proclaimed loudly "No Dark Link, this is your final warning. If you ever ask me to give up again, I'll be sure to smack you into oblivion.

Dark Link grinned even wider and replied "That wouldn't work, foolish Hero of End. For the residents of Oblivion would not be able to contain me.

And then the battle began.

Dark Link and his dragon suddenly shot back up into the air. They then began to circle around Kamaboko and Tomoya. The dragon suddenly opened his mouth and sent a jet of purple fire down at them. Kamaboko jumped to the left and made a few shadow clones. Then each of the clones started pelting the dragon with Solar Flares, which didn't seem to have any effect. Meanwhile, Tomoya jumped to the right and began to alternate between fire, ice, and lightning blasts from Excalibur and red energy pulses from his left hand. Tomoya's attacks also did not seem to be effecting the dragon, who continuously spewed fire at them both.

"This is taking to long." Dark Link whined. "I guess I'll just have to finish this the quick way. Pity, too, since I was really looking forward to fighting you, Kamaboko." Then Dark Link suddenly dropped something from atop the dragon, a something that Tomoya recognized an instant to late.

"Kamaboko! Look away!" Tomoya screamed.

There was a great flash of light.

Followed by an empty darkness.

* * *

The first thing Kamaboko realized when he came to, was that his butt hurt. The second was that it was really, really dark. It was only the third realization that mattered though. It was that he was in a jail cell.

Kamaboko surveyed his surroundings in the jail cell. It was cube shaped, surrounded on three sides with a glowing purple stone, while one side had glowing metal bars and a door. In the far left corner of the room was a rustic bed, and in the far right corner a smelly pail that's purpose Kamaboko decided not to think about.

Kamaboko reached down to his belt for the Katana of Light, only to find that it had been taken from him. Kamaboko did, however still have his backpack with all of its contents, save for the few items that could have been used as weapons. He also felt some kind of metal band on his head that made a beeping sound every few seconds. Kamaboko decided to perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu to try and find a weak point in the wall, but when he tried nothing happened.

"It wont work you filthy human." came a melodic but sinister voice from just outside Kamaboko's jail cell. "The room has a Chakra Canceller Jutsu running through the walls and floor. All you'll do is waste your precious yellow chakra."

Kamaboko immediately turned his head towards the voice. In front of the jail cell stood an incredibly beautiful girl of about fifteen with long, brown hair as well as brown eyes. She was wearing the same cloak all of the Master of Shadow's shadow beings wore, only there was one difference. In the center of the cloak was the ancient Romana numeral for one, 'I'".

"I'm Syra Melci, the Number One of the Shadow Army. Might I ask what your name is. I'm a bit behind on current events due to my recent, and successful, extermination mission."

Kamaboko remained silent and attempted to make contact with Naruto and Kyuubi, only to be answered by silence.

"You can't talk to them." Syra stated. "That metal band around your head prevents you from talking to them and prevents them from possessing your shadow unless Daiki wills it."

Kamaboko furrowed his eyebrows. "Who's Daiki?" he asked.

Syra smiled and replied " Daiki Kinjo is the Master of Shadows' real name. A name that only I am allowed to call him nowadays."

"Where are Tomoya and my brother." Kamaboko demanded.

"Don't worry." Syra said back. "We haven't hurt them. And we don't plan to, too. Anyways, I should probably do what I came to do." Syra sighed and then opened the door and deactivated the Chakra Canceller Jutsu. Before Kamaboko could even blink, she performed a jutsu. "Shadow Style: Absorbent Shadow Bind!" she stated with a hint of enthusiasm. Kamaboko's arms and legs were instantly bound with a black and translucent material that Kamaboko decided was probably a shadow that had been removed from the ground. Kamaboko suddenly levitated in midair so that his feet were about three inches off the ground. He then, against his will, floated over to Syra and followed her down the hallway. As they went, they passed various other shadow beings. Some resembled humans, while others looked like a completely different species. Kamaboko could've sworn he passed a goat-bear-thing with seven horns once. He also passed what appeared to be a medical ward that had a sleeping Hielo inside. In all, Syra and Kamaboko walked/floated for about five to eight minutes.

When they arrived at their destination, Kamaboko saw it was a hallway covered in ancient paintings and unrecognizable symbols. A few feet in front of them was a figure that had his head covered with his cloak's hood and his face covered by a white mask that had a painted face resembling a classic jack-o-lantern scary face.

"The Master of Shadows." Kamaboko whispered.

The Master turned his head towards Kamaboko. "Hello there, young Hero of End." Kamaboko grimaced at his voice. The Master was obviously using a voice scrambler to disguise his voice. Why? Kamaboko did not know.

"So you're the megalomaniac I've heard so much about." Kamaboko remarked snidely.

The Master of Shadows laughed, a sound that was hideously garbled by the voice scrambler. "So you're a smart-aleck, eh. Not the first I've dealt with. Now, that aside, let's get down to business. Syra, please leave us." The said shadow being did as she was commanded.

Kamaboko glared at the Master of Shadows. "You want to become a god, right? That's your plan."

The Master laughed again. "Close. I don't want to become God, I wish to surpass Him. Take a look at this drawing here." The Master pointed to a painted picture of four figures. The one on top was drawn the most ornately, the one right below it was drawn second most ornately, and so on. "This drawing represents the levels of existence. The one at the very bottom is the mortals, an example being humans. Right above mortals are the nonmortals, a few examples being espers and those who have a parent in one of the upper classes. Nonmortals tend to be slightly more powerful and skilled with magic than most mortals. Above nonmortals are the Angelics. They have a limited ability to manipulate subatomic particles. Second to the top are the Divines, an example being God. Divines can fully manipulate subatomic particles and can gather them in large quantities to create a universe. At the very top, though, are the Omnipotents. They have the ability to actually create something from nothing. They can make entire worlds simply by willing it. They can even bring the dead back to life. That is what I wish to become. And the Artifacts will help me make that happen. Now that I have the both halves of the Katana of Twilight, the first being my Katana of Shadows and the second being your Katana of Light, I only need for my ally, The Master of Souls, to retrieve the final artifact. Then we shall become Omnipotents and take over the multiverse." After that the Master of Shadows paused in silence. Suddenly, Kamaboko's shadow rose from the ground, bound using shadow ropes as well.

"Ow! Damn it, that hurt. Kamaboko, what's going on…" Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the Master of Shadows. "So, the ringleader shows his face." Naruto remarked snidely. "Although, I see you're still covering up your host's face. How 'bout you let me see the poor soul's face."

The Master bowed in mock courtesy and replied sarcastically "As you wish, former jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox." The Master of Shadows then reached up to his face and removed the white mask, revealing the face of the cute, indigo-haired girl Kamaboko had seen during his Memory Transfer with Naruto.

Naruto immediately stiffened. "Hin…Hinata." he stammered, shocked.

* * *

Multiverse- The collection of every universe, including our own.

Next Chapter: Breaking out of Prison, and other Extreme Sports.


	10. Chapter 10: Jailbreak

**Arc One: Chapter 10: Jailbreak**

**August 23, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Temple of Shadows**

**Unknown Time**

"Hin…Hinata." Naruto stammered.

The Master of Shadows began to laugh. "No, foolish blond bastard. It may be her body, but I'm in control. And even if Hinata was in control, she wouldn't disobey me. I performed my infamous Mind Corruption Jutsu on her. Her current memories of you aren't exactly happy ones."

Naruto's face contorted in rage. "How dare you! She was all I had left! After you killed nearly all my friends, she was one of the only few I had left to love."

The Master of Shadows' face grew a insane smile of sickening delight. "And now you know the pain I felt. The pain that caused me to become what I am today."

Then Naruto disappeared, forcefully turned back into Kamaboko's harmless shadow by the Master.

The Master of Shadows walked further down the hallway, and Kamaboko was forced to follow. Eventually they reached a humongous, dome-shaped room. In the center of the room was six pillars, five of which had an object on top of them. Kamaboko saw one object that looked similar to the Katana of Light. _'It must be the Katana of Twilight the Master of Shadows spoke of.'_ Kamaboko deduced in his mind.

The Master of Shadows then spread his arms wide and declared "What you see before you is what my people called the Alter. But its original name is _Deorum Plasmator_, the Maker of Gods."

Kamaboko looked at it for a moment, then replied "So this is it. This is how you plan to become a god."

The Master of Shadows smiled and said back "Yes." then paused for a few moments before adding "Why do we have to fight each other. Join me. Become a god as well. The Masters currently have a spot open. I can see it now. Kamaboko Tanaka, the Master of Suns."

"I'll never join you." Kamaboko spat.

The Master of Shadows frowned at this. "Such a shame. You could have been great. The offer still stands, and will until the day you die. Until then however, you shall remain under lock and key. Syra, return him to his cell." Syra suddenly materialized out of the wall. "Yes, my lord." she responded.

* * *

Kamaboko and Syra neared the jail cell, and that was where Syra made her mistake. She activated the Chakra Canceller before the door was closed, causing the shadow bonds to disappear prematurely. Kamaboko then sidestepped past Syra, and pushed her into the jail cell, and closed the door.

"Guards! Guards!" she screamed. Immediately two shadow beings streamed down the hallway, but were easily taken out by a fire jutsu Kamaboko had taught himself. "Golden Flames Jutsu." Kamaboko declared as yellow flames birthed in his right hand and forked outward, killing the two guards. Kamaboko then continued to run down the hallway, until he found one of the jail cells he was looking for. Inside was Tomoya, who still had Excalibur in a sheath by his side. Kamaboko opened the doors and beckoned for him to exit the cell. Tomoya walked out with an unsheathed Excalibur grinning. "Thanks for the save Kama."

Kamaboko grinned back. "Anytime, Tomoya. Anytime."

Kamaboko and Tomoya continued down the hallway, and eventually came to the other cell Kamaboko had been looking for. Inside of the cell was an unconscious Hisao, Kamaboko's younger brother. Kamaboko unlocked the cell, and Tomoya walked inside and slung Hisao over his shoulder, fireman style.

"I've got 'em." Tomoya assured Kamaboko.

Kamaboko nodded in response, and the three jailbirds continued on their way. Soon, a siren had begun to sound. "That's not good." Kamaboko stated. More and more shadow beings began to show up, and pretty soon, the enemies had a decent sized number of pursuers chasing Kamaboko, Tomoya, and Hisao. Tomoya sealed the passageway behind them off with ice from Excalibur. _'I wonder why the Master of Shadows let Tomoya keep Excalibur. He probably never expected us to get this far in an escape attempt.'_ Kamaboko thought to himself.

Kamaboko saw a light at the end of the hallway. _'Daylight.'_ his mind told him. They continued to run towards the hallway's end. And, after what seemed like an eternity, Kamaboko and Tomoya, who had Hisao hung over his shoulder, broke into the daylight.

They were home free**.**

**September 8, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Ryota Village**

**5:57 A.M.**

Kamaboko, Tomoya, and Hisao entered the gates of Ryota Village. The journey home had been long and hard for all three of them. Hisao turned his head towards Kamaboko, and smiled widely. Kamaboko was extremely thankful that his younger brother was still his usual joke-telling, goofy self. Kamaboko had been worried that his younger brother might have been changed by his time in the Temple of Shadows.

The streets of Ryota were clear. Not a person moved across them. This wasn't surprising, since most of the villagers were late risers. Businesses didn't even open until 8 o' clock.

This said, Kamaboko was incredibly surprised when a red streak rushed towards him, and hugged him so tightly he felt as if he was being strangled.

"Your okay! I was so worried. I heard what happened in Satoshi, and I expected the worst. But your alive!" Harumi wept.

Hisao grinned mischievously at Kamaboko, but he ignored it.

"So that's how your journey went?" asked Asimaru, the leader of Ryota Village. Shortly after Kamaboko had greeted Harumi, she had brought him to the Great House, where the village leader, Asimaru, lived. Since then, Kamaboko had been telling Asimaru of his journey.

Kamaboko nodded and replied "Yes, sir."

Asimaru nodded as he lay back into his armchair. There was a few seconds of silence, before Asimaru spoke again. "We will have to do something about the Master of Shadows soon. If he were to succeed, life on Chikyuu would change forever."

"Not just Chikyuu, sir." Kamaboko interjected. "The Master also spoke of worlds alternate to our own. The Master of Shadows plans to rule them as well."

Asimaru's facial expression became that of someone deep in thought. "If that's true then maybe this information would help you out. At Egyptonia, the continent to the southwest of us, there's a legend surrounding the largest of their pyramids. The legend states that, since the beginning of time, there has been a guardian from a world beyond. This guardian supposedly built the first of the Great Pyramids of Egyptonia, and has lived there ever since."

Kamaboko quickly bowed to Asimaru and asked "Please, sir. May Tomoya and I go to investigate this legend?"

Asimaru thought for a few moments, before replying "I'd say no, but you'd probably go anyway. Therefore I give you permission to leave Ryota Village for Egyptonia. You may depart whenever you feel you are ready."

"Thank you, sir." Kamaboko said back, incredibly grateful.

Kamaboko strolled down the road towards his house. Harumi had agreed to take Tomoya and Hisao there until he was done talking with Asimaru. As he walked, Kamaboko turned his head to the sky. Dawn had broke about thirty minutes before, and now the first of the villagers were leaving their homes to begin setting up their shops.

"_Dump of a village, Kama."_ Naruto suddenly spoke into Kamaboko's mind.

'_Well excuse us for having little technology. As I seem to recall, a certain somebody caused an apocalypse.'_ Kamaboko retorted.

Naruto huffed a bit, but ultimately shut up.

Kamaboko soon approached his house, anxious to see his family for the first time in almost a month. As soon as he opened the door to his home, his little sister Katsumi had captured him in a fierce hug and showed no signs of letting go anytime soon. Katsumi was soon followed by his mother and father, who hugged Kamaboko just as tightly. They cried and said how much they missed him and how thankful they were that he saved Hisao.

Basically everything that made him feel happy and awkward at the same time. Awkward because Harumi was standing in the corner beaming at him with a warm smile, a big change from her usual goofy, I-would-laugh-my-head-off-at-nothing smile. After what seemed like an eternity, his family finally let go of him. He then walked over to talk to Harumi.

Oh, Tomoya was there, too.

"So…how have things at the village been going?" Kamaboko asked.

Harumi smiled brighter and replied "The reconstruction of the Katana Academy is going well. But besides that nothing interesting. How about you? What exactly happened in Satoshi Village."

And Kamaboko told her. He told her about how Jasmina attacked him in the hotel, and the battle that followed. He told her of how he delivered the killing blow, and of Jasmina's revelation. He told Harumi of when Jasmina gave him Excalibur.

He told her how Jasmina died.

A haunted expression lingered on his face after he stopped speaking. Harumi smiled weakly and attempted to comfort him. After seeing that Kamaboko needed some time alone, she left the room and closed the door behind her.

'_**Are you going to be ok, Kama?' **_Kyuubi asked, concerned.

'_Yes Kyuubi.' _Kamaboko responded. _'Just leave me alone for a bit.'_

Kyuubi agreed and then retreated back into the deep recesses of Kamaboko's mind.

Kamaboko began to cry. He let all the emotions that had pent up inside of him out in a few tears, unaware that a very concerned Harumi was watching from a crack in the door.

**Two Days Later**

Kamaboko and Tomoya stood at the gates of Ryota Village. His entire family, as well as Harumi's family had come to see them off. As Kamaboko and Tomoya waved good-bye, Kamaboko looked down at his belt. Attached to it was a sheathed Excalibur. Tomoya had given it back to him to replace the Katana of Light that the Master of Shadows had stolen. In return, Asimaru had given Tomoya the katana he had used when he was younger.

Kamaboko turned his eyes to the horizon, and smiled as he thought of the new journey that lay before him.

The Master of Shadows gazed sternly out towards the remaining Numbers. "Prepare to execute the plan. We will launch the attack as soon as we're ready." he commanded.


	11. Chapter 11:The Tale of Hotaka Tanaka

**Arc One: Chapter 11: The Tale of Hotaka Tanaka**

**November 13, 2758 A.D. (700 P.D.D.)**

**Somewhere on the Oceanus Atlanticus **

**12:09 P.M.**

Kamaboko gazed out the ocean from the bow of the _Leap of Faith_, a trade ship who's crew had been hired by Kamaboko to sail him and Tomoya to Egyptonia, a continent that lay due west from Jya. The ship's crew was led by Captain Asim, a native of eastern Egyptonia, known as _Nchi ya Majengo_, roughly translating to the Land of Architects in the Egyptonian language of Swahili. They were known to the rest of the world as architects because of the great buildings they could make. These great buildings included the Great Pyramids of course.

Kamaboko sighed and returned solemnly to his cabin. He was extremely bored. Who wouldn't be after a two month journey on a ship. Even if there was only a week left in the journey, Kamaboko just couldn't bring himself to get exited, or even to feel the anticipation.

Tomoya suddenly walked into their cabin, and took off his katana and laid it next to Kamaboko's Excalibur. Tomoya then lay down in his assigned hammock. "So, Kamaboko. What exactly are we looking for again?"

Kamaboko groaned. "For the millionth time, Tomoya. A quantum disturbance localized in easternmost region of Egyptonia."

Tomoya stared back, blankly. "I actually understand it less now. I think you added a new big word that I don't know. Not that I know many big words."

Kamaboko just nodded in response, and then lost himself in his thoughts. As soon as they got to the port city of Nuvo Cairo, he planned to find a guide and set out for the great pyramids.

Kamaboko's thoughts became numb as he drifted off into sleep.

"Kamaboko, wake up!" Tomoya yelled, with urgency in his voice.

Kamaboko sprang to his feet. "What is it?"

Tomoya smirked. "Dinnertime." he replied.

Kamaboko groaned as Naruto materialized. "Is it ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"_**Moron!"**_ Kyuubi spoke up.

Naruto disappeared again, and Kamaboko and Tomoya strolled towards the dining cabin. When they arrived, nearly all the crewmembers were there, and Captain Asim sat towards the rear of the table. He smiled as they approached. "How are you doing my friends?" he asked in heavily accented Jyanese. "Now that our voyage together is ending, where do you plan to go next?"

"The Great Pyramids." Kamaboko replied.

"Ah, so you're tourists." Asim said.

"Sort of." Kamaboko responded, cryptically.

Asim chuckled and then asked "So, how did a young kid your age even get a hold of the money for this trip to begin with?"

"Where I come from, my family is quite respected and wealthy." Kamaboko replied with a smile on his face.

Asim grinned and said "You should tell us a story about your family, then. We've told you plenty of sailing stories, it's time you return the favor."

Kamaboko smiled faintly and replied "Well, there is one. It's about my great-great-great-great grandfather who lived about 200 years ago. It's long, but I think it's worthwhile to listen to. It details how my family came to posses it's heirloom, the Shadow Necklace." After the last word, Kamaboko brought out the now colorless Shadow Necklace, which had lost its color right after Naruto and Kyuubi were released.

And so Kamaboko told his story to the sailors. The story of Hotaka Tanaka

**206 years ago**

**March, 18 2552 A.D. (494 P.D.D.)**

**The Ruins of the Village Hidden in the Leaves**

**10:56 A.M.**

Thirty-one year-old Hotaka strolled along the rows of workers feverishly excavated ancient artifacts. So far, his crew hadn't found anything worthwhile, but that could change very quickly, and he knew it.

Suddenly, his fellow archeologist, and Britannian, Alaricus ran up to him.

"Hotaka! The workers over in D-block discovered something incredible. You have to get over there ASAP!" Alaricus practically screamed.

Hotaka immediately broke into a run for D-block, when he arrived, what he saw stole his breathe away. It was a mural, depicting a wave of energy destroying everything in its path. Below the mural was the words _To those of future generations, this mural, I can only hope, shall serve as a record-keeper of events that passed._

The mural was signed _Tsunade Senju, Former 5__th__ Hokage._

_P.S. If you ever meet a kid named Naruto Uzumaki, don't listen to a word he says. He's a pervert._

"Jesus Christ!" Alaricus exclaimed. "The Fifth Hokage died about 500 years ago. This sucker's old."

Another archeologist, this time an Americusan, sped over to the side of the mural. He looked it over, then concluded it had been painted around 500 years ago. Improved eyesight, another gift given by the Day of Destruction. Humans these days could see the fleas on a dog's back.

"I don't think the Fifth painted this. From what I've read in the Satoshi Library, Ms. Senju wasn't a very skilled artist. Probably had a servant do it." Hotaka analyzed.

They were about to go report the find, when a collapsed part of the mural's stone surface caught Alaricus' eye. "Hey, Hotaka, check this out." Alaricus said.

Both of the archeologists walked over to the hole in the mural that was only just slow enough to be considered professional. However, when the saw what was on the other side of the mural, they lost all professional composure. It was another, smaller mural depicting a pyramid-like structure that would have reminded them of a Mayan pyramid, had the Mayans existed in this world.

The message of Tsunade continued below this mural.

_At the Temple of Shadows, lies both Destruction and Salvation._

_Beware the Walkin' Dude._

_He goes by many names._

_The man in black._

_Randall Flagg_

_And…_

_Go now, there are other worlds than these._

Hotaka was unable to read the last name, because it had been scratched out of existence. He turned, dumbstruck, to Alaricus. "What the hell does that mean, 'other worlds than these.'"

Alaricus didn't hear him, he was to concentrated on the step-shaped pyramid depicted on the mural. "Say, Hotaka. Doesn't this remind you of the Temple of Shadows on the northern part of Jya?"

Hotaka studied it for a moment, and then turned back to Alaricus. "It does. We need to leave for the Temple right away. It could hold the secret to the Day of Destruction!"

Alaricus grinned widely and nodded in response.

**Back in the Present**

"…and sadly their tale of the journey to the Temple of Shadows has been lost." Kamaboko apologized to the sailors. "However, we do know the ending."

**1 Month After The Discovery of the Mural**

Hotaka walked through the bustling town of Marcelix, approaching the Temple of Shadows. A lot was on his mind at the moment, like how he wished Alaricus was here with him. Sadly, a fatal illness had killed the Britannian archeologist, leaving Hotaka to make the journey, as Alaricus' dieing request, alone.

As Hotaka grew nearer to the Temple of Shadows, a strange man wearing an orange mask with a spiral pattern on it approached him. "I know your goal." the man said.

Hotaka eyed him with a leery intent. "What do you want?" Hotaka asked.

The man chuckled. "Just to give you the thing you came for." The man then tossed a necklace with a strange spiral pattern of red and blue at him. "Take it and leave, if you value your life. The Shadowed Ones don't take kindly to trespassers." the man continued. He then turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Hotaka called out to him. "At least tell me who you are."

The man waved back and replied. "I'm as alien to this world, and others, as you can get. My name is Madara Uchiha. But you may call me Flagg. Randall Flagg."

* * *

"…and so Hotaka returned home with the Necklace of Shadows, started a family, and died at a ripe old age." Kamaboko concluded.

The sailors applauded the story, but Naruto spoke into Kamaboko's mind, a little frantic.

"_Wait, what was that about a Madara Uchiha? Tell me, do you know more!"_

"_**Yeah, if you know something else, tell us immediately!" **_Kyuubi chimed in.

'_Sorry guys, that's all I know about him. He was a mysterious man that gave my ancestor you guys sealed in a jewelry item.'_

Besides Naruto's franticness, it was a normal dinner on the ship. The food sucked. Smelly Joe was…well smelly. And the sailor joked and told stories.

Later, in his bunk, Kamaboko gazed into the Necklace of Shadows. It had lost it's color after Naruto and Kyuubi had been released from it, but it still held a great amount of sentimental value for him. _'Oh well. No use getting stuck in the past. The future holds a new tomorrow.'_

Kamaboko set his necklace down and fell asleep immediately afterwards.

* * *

I just decided to get a little more into the backstory of Chikyuu. Also, if you're a Narutoverse purist please forgive me for next chapter. I've taken liberties with my Narutoverse and created other continents. And finally, the time travelling tower from the new movie doesn't exist in my Naruto world.

Cheers,

TROTM


	12. Chapter 12: The Other World

**Arc 1: Chapter 12: The Other World**

**November 20, 2758 A.D.(700 P.D.D.)**

**Neo Cairo, Nchi ya Majengo**

**12:03 P.M.**

Kamaboko and Tomoya strolled down the port city of Neo Cairo's Main Street; a long and wide dirt road with hundreds of peddlers, merchants, artisans, and pottery makers selling their goods on the side of it. All of the people around them had brown skin, as well as black, wool-like hair.

"This is interesting." Kamaboko said. "In a way, it reminds me of my village. Yet, at the same time, it seems completely different."

Tomoya shrugged. "Well, what'd you expect? It's just another village."

Kamaboko nodded in reply. That made sense. After all, they were all human, no matter the culture differences.

"Anyways," Tomoya continued "didn't you want to find a guide to take us to the Pyramids?"

"Yeah, I guess." Kamaboko said, pulling himself out of his thoughts about Jasmina's dying body. Asimaru always said that if you dwelled to much on the past, it would repeat itself until you moved on.

He returned to thinking about Jasmina, but in a different, more analytical way. Jasmina had been nothing but a prisoner to the Master of Shadow's will, but was it the same way with the other Type 3 shadow beings. From what he'd been able to piece together, Type 3's had been forcefully removed from their home in the Shadow World.

"Earth to Kamaboko. Wake up already! I still know next to nothing about your world. I need you up and running." Tomoya said, thwacking Kamaboko on the forehead.

"Fine!" Kamaboko pouted. They then continued to walk down the dusty road.

"Excuse me, sirs." a male voice spoke in moderately accented Jyanese. "I overheard your conversation earlier, and I may be the guide you are looking for."

Kamaboko turned to see the voice's owner. He was a young man of about twenty-three or twenty-four, with black hair and a scruffy beard of the same color. "Yes, we are." Kamaboko replied, a bit suspicious of the eavesdropper. "Do you know how to get to the Great Pyramids?"

The man made an astonished face. "Of course, my good man! What kind of guide would I be if I could not locate such monuments?"

Kamaboko was still suspicious. "How much will your services cost?"

The man instantly became more businesslike. "48 jakas per day."

Kamaboko nodded his head. Jyan uro was worth more than the Egyptonian jaka, so Kamaboko had well over 1,000 jakas. He also wasn't in the mood to haggle. "It's a deal." Kamaboko replied.

The man's face lit up immediately. "Excellent! We'll leave shortly after we gather our supplies for the half-day walk from here to there. I am Ahmad, by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Kamaboko."

* * *

At 11:26 P.M., Kamaboko, Ahmad, and Tomoya arrived at the Great Pyramids of Egyptonia. They were magnificent, to say the least. Although they had looked smooth from a distance, Kamaboko noticed that the closer you got to them, the more there blocky texture showed.

They passed through a hieroglyph covered doorway and entered an even more hieroglyph covered passageway.

At some point of the expedition through the passageways, Kamaboko thought he heard Tomoya whisper "They look just like the ones in Africa." Kamaboko just dismissed his dimensionally-displaced esper friend's comment, though.

"Welcome Kamaboko." a female voice said from the darkness in front of them.

"Who's there?" Ahmad called out.

A teenage girl walked out from the darkness. "An ally." the girl said.

Ahmad frowned. "Little girl, it is not safe to be out this far at night."

The girl frowned at Ahmad. "Human, I am no child. I have lived for over nineteen billion turns of your planet."

"Impossible!" Ahmad spat, but Kamaboko ignored him and asked the girl "Who and what are you?"

The girl flicked some of her brown hair out of her light brown face and smiled warmly at Kamaboko. "I'm Isis, the Guardian Angelic of this universe."

Kamaboko nodded, and the girl continued to talk. "We'd better get going, or we'll be late." Isis then turned and walked quickly down the corridor. They all followed, although Ahmad was a bit reluctant.

"Where is this…crazy girl taking us?" Ahmad asked Kamaboko after they had walked behind Isis for about ten minutes.

Kamaboko snorted. "How the hell should I know? I can't read minds!"

Suddenly, the cramped hallway opened up into a humongous chamber. Giant pictures depicted battles between unknown nations and coronations of multiple kings. At the far end of the chamber was what looked like a rectangular gateway.

"Welcome to the First Construct." Isis began. "As the name suggests, this was the first structure built on Chikyuu, billions of years ago. I built it to act as a headquarters for my study of Universe 75.56, the universe you currently exist in. God assigned me this universe shortly after its creation, 13.7 billion years ago."

"Bull-crap!" Ahmad yelled.

Isis looked at Ahmad curiously. Ahmad instantly flew several feet into the air.

"Alright, alright! I believe you! Just let me down!" Ahmad shouted. Everyone else in the room snickered at his distress.

After Ahmad was set back on the ground, he muttered something about a "crazy witch girl."

Isis apparently heard it. "Do you want to imitate a dying eagle, again?" she asked him, with a hint of playfulness in her voice. Ahmad jumped a few inches in the air as he rapidly shook his head.

Isis smiled. "Good. Now if I can direct your attention to the Dimensional Gateway over there," she motioned to the rectangular gateway. "I would like everyone to step through. You're late for a meeting." Immediately after she finished speaking, a thin film of a blue and opaque…something appeared in the Gateway.

Tomoya went in first, disappearing as he passed through the film. Ahmad reluctantly went in after him.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he mumbled as he disappeared into the film.

Kamaboko walked up to the Gateway, but paused and looked back to Isis. "Aren't you coming?" he asked her.

Isis smiled sadly. "No, I must stay here and continue my research. Only once every thousand years am I allowed to leave, for one year of R&R. But there is someone I know waiting on the other side of the Gateway. I've spoken to him via quantum cell phone."

Kamaboko waved a hand in farewell. "Well, I don't know what a 'cell phone' is, but I'll see ya around." Kamaboko then plunged into the film.

There was a second of darkness, but then a strange, artificial light appeared in front of Kamaboko.

* * *

**November 1, 3018 A.D.(700 P.D.D.)**

**Universe 1.1: Terra Prime DMA Headquarters, Washington D.C.**

**9:06 A.M.**

When Kamaboko emerged on the other side of the gateway, the first thing he noticed was the abundance of metal in the room around him. There were people pressing strange buttons on…were those floating signs?

What looked like a Britannian man in strange looking clothing, a black coat of wool and long pants of the same color and material, walked up to him, flanked by two guards wielding strange metal bars with multiple bulges and grooves on them. The man spoke to them in an odd, nasally language.

Tomoya's eyes lit up with recognition. Tomoya spoke back to the man in a heavily accented version of the same language. Their conversation continued for a minute, before Tomoya translated the basic gist of the conversation to Kamaboko.

"Basically, this guy is the elected leader of a worldwide organization known as Terra Prime, and that we have traveled from your home universe, Universe 75.56, to this, alternative universe, known as Universe 1.1. Right now, we're waiting for some scientists to arrive in order to fit us with Instant Universal Speech Translators to make communications between us easier." Tomoya stopped talking for a moment, then chuckled. "And I used to think English classes were a waste of time."

Kamaboko was, for the first time in months, surprised. Although he was expecting a different society here than on his own world, he wasn't expecting the technology to be so far ahead.

_"Holy crap!"_ Naruto spoke into Kamaboko's mind. "_And to think that in our universe, rudimentary telephones and bird messengers are cutting edge breakthroughs_."

Kamaboko mentally agreed. This place was amazing!

After a minute or two of awkward silence, a team of men and women in white coats rushed in. Three went over to Kamaboko and ran strange, buzzing machines over his body, and then discussing things amongst themselves. When Kamaboko glanced to the right, he saw that another group of scientists were doing the same to Tomoya and Ahmad. To be honest, they were making Kamaboko a bit uneasy.

The scientists surrounding Kamaboko suddenly shut off their tools, and said a few words in the unintelligible language called "English". Finally, they handed Kamaboko a small, tan, circular button barely an inch in diameter.

When Kamaboko gave the scientist who had handed him the button a look of confusion, the scientist pointed to the button, and then tapped the area behind his ear. Kamaboko nervously set the button in the indicated spot, and felt a slight pinch of pain as the button attached itself to Kamaboko's head. Tomoya and Ahmad then did the same.

"Can you hear me now?" the leader of Terra Prime asked.

Kamaboko was taken aback by the thoroughness of the translator. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed that he was talking to Jyan natives.

"Yes…" Kamaboko began, but then stopped as he realized that he had no idea how to respond to them in their own language.

The leader laughed. "Relax, the translator you're wearing works both ways, translating what somebody says to you into your own language, and then translating your reply into whatever language the other person is speaking."

Kamaboko nodded, amazed again.

The leader continued to talk. "Now, I already know all of your names, but I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Nicholas Price, the president of Terra Prime."

"Cool." Tomoya replied, with a yawn. "Can we go to bed now? It was just nighttime in the universe we came from."

Nicholas nodded. "Of course. Drew here will show you to the rooms we prepared for you." Nicholas motioned to one of the scientists. "We'll continue this talk at 10:00 sharp, tonight, since it's best for you to have a full night's sleep before we brief you. Until then, goodnight."

Kamaboko didn't like the possible meaning behind the word brief, but he was too tired to care. _'I'll find out in the __morning...afternoon...whatever!_' Kamaboko thought to himself, yawning shortly afterwards.

* * *

**Next Chapter: A month before the present time, in a parallel world, a familiar teenage girl must deal with the stress of having her life turned upside down by an agent from Terra Prime.**

A/N: To make things easier, I've decided have the month and day of all other worlds (Save for Terra Prime, I already made them 20 days behind Kamaboko's world, not counting the years in between.) the same as in Kamaboko's world.


End file.
